Annihilation
by Saki-chan2
Summary: Only a few of the digidestined are able to enter the digital world, and there they find an old enemy with new tricks: solidizing their nightmares. One of my older fics, slow in the beginning, but I swear it picks up.
1. Part One

Annihilation

Part One: Dreaming of Enemies

Davis shrugged.

            "Beats me, maybe Kari will know."

             Yolei readjusted her glasses as she peered harder at the computer screen.  The digiport was still closed, and it had been for hours on end.

            "What makes you think Kari will know?  Or is that just your answer to everything?"

            T.K. laughed as he acted something that might occur between Davis and one of his teachers.

            " 'Daisuki, why won't you be quiet?'  'Beats me, maybe Kari will know.'  'Kari isn't in this class.'  'Uhh…then maybe Cody will know.'"

            Cody giggled helplessly.

            "But T.K., I'm too young to be in any of Davis' classes."

            "I don't know Cody; I think Davis is still taking basic math…"

            "Haha T.M., so I'm not the sharpest tool box in the tool."

            Yolei busted out laughing.

            "Well obviously!"  
            While Davis was going over what he had just said, Kari walked into the room.

            "What's so funny?" she looked at her digipals oddly.  No one responded.

            Too busy trying to stop from laughing; Yolei missed the sudden shadow that passed through the computer screen.  The digiport light was still red, but something looked different about the digital gateway…

            Matt breathed in the fresh air and let it out slowly.  He hadn't been here in weeks because of his band, so it was a relief to get back to the non-polluted air of the digiworld.  _Where's Gabumon?_ He wondered as he watched Sora embrace her pink-feathered partner.  _I wonder if he's in trouble._  Matt shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet.  _If he was-_

            "Matt!  Come quick!"

            Running towards Tai's urgent voice, thoughts flew through Matt's mind.  _What could be wrong?  This was probably just a joke, stupid Tai._

The grassy plain he was running across transformed before his eyes and under his feet into a densely wooded area.  Matt slowed his footsteps to a dead stop.  _What was going on?_

            "Hey, Tai?  Where are you?"

            No response.

            "Tai?"

            He heard his own heartbeat in the silence as he took in his surroundings.  There were trees all around; and not just small trees.  The trees were huge, and their canopies thick so that no light shone through.

            _No way.  But I was just outside in the open, broad daylight.  Where **is** Tai?_

The darkness around got gradually darker.  Soon the hand before his face was invisible and darkness swamped everything.  Even the trees weren't visible.

            "Tai?" he heard his voice, small and frightened, echo around him.  But he also heard something else, a voice or a whisper of some kind, too distant to place.

Davis pointed at the computer screen.

            "Whoa, what was that?"

            "What was what?" T.K. followed Davis' gaze. "I don't see anything."

            "I agree with T.K., Davis: there's nothing there."

            Davis grabbed his hair and pulled at it roughly.

            "Would you stop agreeing with T.K. for once and listen to me?!  There was something on or _in _that screen!"

            Yolei looked at the screen then at Davis.

            "Are you sure?  I mean, you tend to hallucinate once in awhile…" 

            "I'm positive!  There was _something_ there!" 

Sora looked up from hugging Biyomon just at the instant Matt started running.

            "Hey, Matt, where are you go- never mind." She watched him sprint off, feeling helpless in every aspect.

            "Sora…you're squeezing me…too (gasp) tightly…"

            "Huh?  Oh!  Sorry Bi…I just got distracted.  Say do you know where Matt's going?"

            Biyomon preened her feathers nonchalantly.

            "No, but I really don't care.  You shouldn't either Sora, Matt can take care of himself."

            Sora paused and looked at her friend.

            "Uhhh…yeah, sure Bi.  But ya know, he is my boyfriend and all…"

            "Then he should be watching after you, not you watching after him."

            "Yeah, I guess your right Biyomon."  But still Sora looked longingly at the quickly disappearing form of Matt.  _Where was he going?  Looking for Gabumon?  Maybe…_

            "Hey Sora…?"

            "Hm?"

            "I think there's something wrong with the digiport."

            "Huh?"  Sora tore her gaze away from the long-gone Matt to look at the computer/television.  There was something wrong with it.  But what?  She couldn't quite put her finger on it.  But wait a second…doesn't that red light mean that…that it was closed!

The sound got gradually louder until he was breathing in the noise.  It was deafening and it shot a sudden fear through him.  Not knowing if it was his adrenalin kicking in, Matt started to breath heavily.  _What was going on?_

Then it hit him, literally.

            Icy cold water slammed into his body with so much force he flew backwards.  The liquid rushed into his mouth and up his nostrils, causing him to choke and splutter. He felt the substance fill his lungs as he automatically tried to force himself upward.  But upward to where?  This place was filled with nothing but water, rushing, surging, choking water.  Everywhere.  He took a final worthless stroke, and then blacked out.

"I swear on my fricken soccer ball, something passed in that screen!"

            Davis pointed at the screen with a frustrated look etched permanently onto his face.  The gateway looked the same as before: a picture of some grassy plain (on which Sora and Matt had been standing, unbeknownst to them), the same red dot, and some Japanese writing.

            "Davis," Yolei gave an impatient sigh, "fine then, what did it look like?"

            A sweat drop appeared on Daisuki's head.

            "Uhh…"

             "Davis!" Cody yelled, "you're swearing something was there when you don't even know what it looked like?!"

            "I know what it looked like!  It was…uh…black."

            "Black!  That's all you can say about it!"  Davis gave T.K. an 'I'm-gonna-kill-you-after-this-is-done' look.

            "Davis, come on, there has to be _some_ other word to describe it."

            Davis shook his head.

            "Sorry, Kari.  But the only thing I could tell was that it was black, fuzzy, and kind of jutting out at some points."

            "So…" T.K. mused over this for a second, "so it looked like when Wizardmon kept trying to get a hold of Gatomon, right?"

            "I guess so, yeah."

            Yolei rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back to the computer in front of her.  She let out a shriek. 

"Oh my gosh, Biyomon!  What are we going to do?!  There's no way to get back…and…and Matt's gone…and there's no way to get back!"  Sora started to bite at her nails, a habit which she had never picked up until this instant.  

            Biyomon, however, didn't find it nerve racking at all to be stuck in the digital world.  For one thing, it was her home.  As she stood there watching Sora flip out, she felt a sudden boredom.  A boredom that she couldn't explain.  If VenomMyotismon came back and swallowed Sora whole, she wouldn't have cared nor felt any sorrow.  For some unknown reason she didn't mind feeling this way; in actuality it was relaxing.  

            Sora stopped biting her nails long enough to watch Biyomon acquire a distant gaze in her eyes.

            "Hey, Biyomon, what's wrong?"

            Biyomon didn't respond.

            "Biyomon, you're freaking me out, Biyomon?"

            She waved a hand in front of the dazed looking digimon.

            "Biy-" she felt a hand land on her shoulder and close tightly.

            "Hey Sora…I need to show you something, or rather, tell."

            Matt was dreaming.  It was like nothing he had ever experienced before.  The dream didn't make any sense at all, for the moment anyway.  Then of course, it might be trying to tell him something.  Although what that something was he was yet to find out.  

            He was standing with Cherrymon again.  He stood looking over the edge of the lake, watching Tai's reflection.  The two of them were older, in their school uniforms.  Matt reached out to break the water's surface, ruining the picture of Tai.  But he felt Tai grab his hand.  He tried desperately to get away, trying to get out of the vice-like grip.  Tai pulled hard, forcing Matt into the lake with him.  The water…wasn't water.  Matt fell, screaming as loud as he could; watching the jutting canyon floor near.  He took a deep breath, then-

            Matt's eyes popped open, greeted with the imaginary face of Tai._  What did it mean?  And most of all, where am I?_

Cody started as the sound of Yolei's screech reached his ears.

            "Yolei!  What?!"

            Yolei had a hand over her mouth and her skin had gone pale. 

            "L-l-look!"

            T.K. stretched over her to take a look at the screen.  What he saw made his stomach turn.

            There was a picture of Matt's head with a big, red 'X' through it.  Next to it was a Sora face, then Izzy, Mimi, Tai, Jou, Kari, and then, his eyes grew wide, his own face!  He looked back over the faces and noticed only Matt's picture had the 'X' over it.

            "What?  What is it?" Cody stood on tiptoes.

            T.K. ignored his question and looked straight at Kari.

            "Someone is killing us off."

Sora's heart pounded.  She recognized this voice; this was Tai.  But she didn't get the same feeling she always got around him, something was wrong.  She turned around slowly to look at the familiar face of Tai.

"Hi Tai.  When did you get-" 

Tai put a hand over her mouth, quieting her.  He nodded towards the sleeping Biyomon; as if saying, "don't wake her".

Sora froze.  Something was definitely not right.  Searching Tai's eyes for some sort of answer, she found herself shivering suddenly.  She felt Tai's arm slip around her waist as he started to guide her away from Biyomon.

"Sora, as I said before, I need to show you something.  So stop shivering, okay?  You don't need to be afraid of me."

 _Don't need to be afraid of you, huh? _Sora thought bitterly.  _Then why won't you take your hand off my mouth?_

Izzy stepped into the computer room dramatically.

"You called?"

He did a little jig when he walked over to Yolei, drawing funny looks.

"I was trying to beat Tai's record of the most sodas drunk in one day when I got your call.  Did you know he's in the Guinness Book of World Records because of it?"

His grin faded slowly away when everyone seemed very uninterested.  After hiccupping several times, Izzy got down to business.

"So, you say there's some freaky homicidal maniac on the lose, huh?  Same old, same old.  Don't we ever get any _bad_ news?" he looked around the room, flashing his teeth.  When no one responded to his pathetic joke, he sighed and shook his head. "Well, _anyways_.  What's up dogs?"

Davis shook his head.

"No, no, _no_.  It's more like-"

"Shut up you two!  Someone is killing the older digidestined and you're here discussing slang!  _Come on_!  Give me a break!"     

Izzy drew in a sharp breath.

"I'm insulted that you should think _anyone_ could kill me, Yolei.  I'm too smart for that."

"I just want you to know Izzy, when your killed I'm going to laugh hysterically and take your place as computer club president."

Izzy lost his temporary drunk-like attitude at Yolei's remark.

"Ahem, right, well…do we know who the killer is?"

T.K. sat with red eyes in the corner.

"Well we know…*sniff*…that it isn't Matt…"

Izzy stole a glance at the screen.

"Hmm…well obviously not, maybe it's…hmm…no that doesn't make sense…I'VE GOT IT!"

Davis slid off the chair he was napping on after being rudely awakened.

"KARI!  I mean…what?"

Cody ignored the ignorant child as he got caught up in the excitement.

"Who?"

"It's…well…someone in the digiworld."

Yolei, T.K., Kari, and Cody fell over, leaving Davis totally clueless.

_All right, enough is enough.  I don't know where he's taking me, but we're stopping, right here._

Sora whipped around and kicked Tai hard on his shin.

He let go of her immediately, in the same movement getting another hold on her arm and holding his shin.

"What the _heck_ was that for?"

"You know what?  I've got some questions of my own.  Like: where are you taking me? And why are you holding me like I'm some sort of hostage?"

"Sora, have I ever told you how extremely beautiful you are?"

"Oh…now your going to play the little 'I love you gig' huh?  Well it's not going to-"

Tai pulled her close and kissed her, at the same time hitting a nerve on the back of her neck.  She passed out quietly in his arms and started to dream.

"Actually," Izzy explained to his spectators, "it makes perfect sense.  Matt was, well, _supposedly_ killed in the digiworld, right?  So it's relevant that the person that killed Matt is in the same vicinity as him, catch my drift?"

Cody nodded.

"Your right of course, I'm sorry I doubted you," he bowed down respectively towards Izzy, making Koushiro blush faintly.

"Oh that's all right Cody, don't worry about it.  But what's scaring me is: Sora and Matt went to the digital world together, through my computer an hour ago."

"The room went dead silent.

Davis, who still hadn't caught on, shrugged his shoulders.  

"So, maybe Sora dragged him into the digiworld alone to kill him off.  She probably figured out her mistake about ditching Tai and decided to get out of the lousy relationship she had with Matt.  Not surprising, either.  Matt doesn't seem too bright, strong, protective and all the other good stuff a boyfriend has to be."

"Davis, clean out your ears or go get some glasses.  How could Sora, I mean, _why_ would Sora kill Matt," Kari pointed at the computer screen, indicating the x-ed out Matt head.

"Whoa!  He really is dead!  Now Tai can have his girl!  Awesome!" 

T.K. pinned Davis against the wall.

" 'Awesome'? That is not 'awesome'.  My brother is dead and your saying that's 'awesome'?  What the heck is wrong with you?!"

T.K. brought back his fist and slammed it into Davis' left eye.  Partially blinded, Davis fought back with the strength of desperation.  His leg caught T.K.'s and they fell to the ground at each other's throats.  Daisuki sunk his teeth into his enemy's leg, which turned out to be a mistake.  Takeru lashed out the leg being bitten, slamming Davis' head into the brick wall behind him.  Davis, having a head of steel, was not fazed by this at all; not even when the blood started to trickle down the back of his neck.  Daisuki stood up and laughed aloud as he kicked T.K., who was still lying on the ground.

"Haha, T.S., kiss my a-"

T.K. grabbed Davis by the foot and managed to throw him overhead.  He smashed into a table of computers, taking it down with him.  Twisting around in the cables and wires, Davis watched as the maddened T.K. came closer.

"Uh…love the hat…heh heh…"

T.K., looking very serious, gabbed Davis' shirt collar roughly and hauled him upright.  Davis, still recovering from the electrocution he had just been put through, didn't put up much of a fight.  Not enough fight to stop T.K. from dragging him over to the window.

Matt stared, wide-eyed, as Sora appeared in front of him.

"Sora?"

She opened her eyes slowly and tried not to pout too hard.  When she locked eyes with Matt, she fell apart instantly.

"Oh Matt!" she cried as she flung her arms around him, "it was horrible!  Tai, he-"

She looked at her arms suddenly, then at Matt.  She had gone right through him!

"Matt, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure, but…I think, well, I don't know.  I had this freaky dream, and," Matt stopped.  He gave Sora a quizzing glance, "what did Tai do?"

"Uh…he," she paused.  Should she tell him about the kiss?  No, he might ask what happened after that, she didn't even know that. "Forget that; where are we?"

"Where does it look like we are?" Matt extended his arms in a presenting sort of way.

Sora gasped.

"Are we, are we dead?"

T.K. kicked open one of the window sections and struggled to push the kicking and screaming Davis out of it.  Kari allowed herself a faint smile.

"Okay T.K., as much as I enjoy this, that's enough."

But T.K. wasn't listening.  With a final shove, Davis was out the window.

Yolei rushed up to the sill, pushing T.K. out of her way.

"Oh my gosh! DAVIS!"

Koushiro took hold of Takeru roughly.

"What the heck do you think your doing?"

But T.K. had finally snapped.  The mad beast that he had always restrained overtook his usual calmness.  He shoved Izzy down on the floor, grabbed one of the (still sparking) snapped cables and advanced towards him.

Cody, sensing the worst, snatched a wood shard from the broken table and rushed T.K.

In his maddened rage, all Takeru could see was Izzy.  Nothing else.  His thoughts were focused on shoving the cable into Izzy's mouth, when Cody came up behind him.  All of those kendo lessons really paid off as Cody smashed the wood into T.K.'s legs.  T.K. crumpled to the ground, and then Iori was on him.

"Forgive me, Grandpa," Cody whispered as he slammed the wood onto T.K.'s head.

Matt shook his head.

"I don't think we're dead, Sora, but if we are, then there's nothing we can do about it.  But something is really wrong here.  You saw me run off, right?" Sora nodded. "I had heard Tai's voice; he was asking me to come to him.  Well, I never found him.  In fact, his voice led me into some sort of trap.  The thing is, I heard him, I just didn't see him."

Sora gave him a confused look.

"Okay, what's so weird about not finding him?  He could have been hiding.  Besides, _I _saw him."

"But that's the thing.  When did Tai get here?  In fact, I remember him saying he had a soccer game."

"Your right, when I asked him when he had gotten here, though I never got to finish asking, he didn't answer."

"The thing is, Sora, I don't think he could have answered."

"What do you mean?"

"You see…well, first tell me _exactly_ how you felt around him, and how you usually feel."

"Umm…now that you mention it, I truly didn't think it was Tai at all.  I mean, I didn't feel like, well, like I knew him."

"But it was Tai; just a copy." 

"A COPY!?  How could Tai be copied?  Cloning isn't that far yet."

Matt gnawed at his lip.

"You see, that's the part I haven't figured out yet; ghees, now I know how Izzy feels."

He paced around for a while, ignoring Sora and mumbling to himself.

_Tai this and Tai that; he must think Tai had a whole conspiracy against them.  _Sora grinned suddenly.  _Tai's not smart enough to plot a conspiracy._

Kari stood riveted at the scene in front of her.  Yolei was crying at the windowsill; Cody was bowed down by T.K.; Izzy was looking dazed; and T.K. lay unconscious.  Tears began forming in her eyes as all she could think about was being held.  She needed Tai here; she needed T.K. conscious; and maybe even Davis (whom might not be alive right now).  So the only person she could think of to want right now, that might be available, was Tai.  She let the tears flow freely as she called out her brother's name.

"Taaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiii!" she fell to the floor and curled up into a tight ball.  _I need Tai,_ she thought, when really all she needed was to be pampered.  She had always been spoiled, had always had all the attention, and now…

"Kari?  What's going on?" Tai bent down beside Kari and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Kari, tell me what happened."

Kari uncurled, and looked up at her older brother, still in his soccer uniform.

"Tai," she sat up and flung her arms around him, "Tai, everyone is freaking out, and…and I think Davis might be dead."

Tai hugged her tightly.

"It's okay Kari.  Davis is fine.  I saw him outside as he was standing up.  He refused to let me help him get to the hospital.  He told me to come up here and kick T.K.'s you-know-what.  Then of course, I think someone already beat me to it."  He looked over his shoulder at the still knocked out T.K.  Tai heard Hikari giggle faintly.  At least he had lightened one spirit in this room; now for all the other ones. 

He helped her up and kissed her on the forehead lightly.

"You going to be okay?"

She nodded, her gaze locked on T.K.'s still body.  She pried herself out of Tai's grip (*I have no idea why anyone would do _that_*) and walked over to Takeru slowly.

Izzy was already standing up and recovered from his little skirmish.  He gave a nasty look to the body of T.K., made a wide circle around him (as if T.K. would jump up and bite him like some sort of mad dog), and ended up standing by Tai.  He talked to him frantically for a moment, causing Tai to get a startled look.  Then they walked out into the hall, closing the door behind them.

Matt stopped pacing abruptly.

"Wait a second, what was that?"

Sora just looked at him blankly, or seemed to be looking past him.

"Sora?  Did you hear that?"

"Huh?  Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Matt held a finger to his lips and started to walk around.  Where to, not even Matt himself knew.

The place they were in (if it could be considered a place) was nothing but light.  So as Matt started to walk away from Sora, the outline of his body faded.  She could still see him, but he was gradually being swallowed up in light.

"Uhh…Matt?  I really think we should stay together."

"You can still see me, right?  As long as you can see me then consider us together. Now would you shut up?"  
            Sora let out a disagreeing sound. 

"Of all the people I know, I had to get stuck with you," she complained loudly.

"_Shut up_."

"No."

"Sora.  What do you want me to say?  Please?"

"It would be nice."

"In your drea- wait, there it was again."

"What?  I didn't hear anything."

He didn't respond.

_Hmph.  Fine, he doesn't want to stay together?  Then we won't stay together.  _Sora walked briskly in the opposite direction of Matt, until they were completely out of each other's way and sight. 


	2. Part Two

**Annihilation**

**Part Two**

"So, someone is killing us?"

Izzy shook his head slowly.

"I don't know, I don't know.  It seems like it, but then…I don't know."

"How did you come up with that theory anyways?"

"Well, you see," Izzy turned towards the hall windows and stared out of them, "when Yolei saw the face of Matt 'x-ed' out, we kind of just figured…" he trailed off, leaving Tai very frustrated.

"Izzy, come on.  Your holding something back."

"Uhh…what makes you think that?"

"I've known you pretty long; I know your ways."

Izzy turned around quickly.

"Okay, your not going to like this, I mean, I know you don't care about Matt, but…"

"Out with it."

He sucked in a deep breath.

"When you came in, I looked back at the computer and…Sora's face had been 'x-ed' out."

He looked at Tai, maybe expecting him to explode with grief and anger.  But nothing like that happened at all.  Instead, Tai chewed at his lip thoughtfully.  

"Izzy, your positive that they _died_?  I mean, maybe they just went somewhere or did something, and the computer is counting us down.  You know, like if we go there or do that then we'll be marked out too."

"Perhaps your right Tai, we could be making a big deal about nothing."

"Right.  But just in case, I'm going to go check out the digiworld; see if anything is wrong.  Do me a favor and watch Kari, okay?"

"Can't I come too?  I'm always stuck with watching the computer and letting you guys know if anything is wrong."

"Just watch Kari and them.  Maybe something will happen over here while I'm gone.  Then you won't be so bored."

"Not likely."

_Stupid Matt.  Shouldn't he care at least a little about me?  After all, I am his girlfriend.  _

Sora stopped.  What was she doing?  They had to stay together.  Her live and his might depend on it.

She turned around.

_What have I done?  I've got to go find him again.  What have I done?_

"Matt!  Matt!" she started to run back the way she had come, but to where?  There were no landmarks to remember, just light.

_Oh God_.

"Matt!?  Matt please hear me!"

"Looking for someone?" and evil laugh sounded as the light instantly went into darkness.

There it was again.  What was that sound?  The completely lost Matt walked around some more, trying to find the origin of the sound he kept on hearing.  It wasn't getting louder, that was for sure.  Yet now and again it was clearer than before.  Clear to the extent he still couldn't tell what it was.  It was extremely nerve-racking, because he didn't know if he was going in the right direction or not.  Matt stopped walking.  The sound had changed into a steady clinking noise.  As if two chains kept banging into each other.  He felt panic flood through his body; it was getting louder.  _Not again…if it's water, I'm-_

Chains flew from all angles around him and wrapped tightly across his body; tightening with deadly grips.

"Shi-" he felt one of the chains tie around his mouth, cutting off his swear.  Soon he was held tight in a standing position, fuming at being off guard _again_.

_I've got to find a computer; I've got to get to them.  Matt!  Sora!  Oh God, Sora!  _Tai accelerated his already blinding speed as he tried desperately to find a computer.  The thought of them actually being dead had hit him after he had left Izzy.  He stuck his head through open doors and peered through windows.  Finally, he saw one of the teacher computers used on the classroom for keeping grades in check.  He ran towards it, extending his   
arm with the digivice in it.  He prayed to all the Gods in the world that the digiport would appear.  If only the computers in the lab weren't all destroyed…yes! the digiport did appear!  _Don't worry Sora; I'm coming for you…_

"T.K.?" Kari placed a hand on his shoulder, "T.K. you can wake up now."  She shook him lightly.  When he didn't budge she felt the tears gather at her eyes.  Kari let them role down freely, trying hard to take the attention away from everyone else and have it rest on her.  But no one was there to pay a whole lot of attention.  She looked back down at T.K.

"T.K.?"

Kari pushed hair out of her eyes, and sat back, rocking herself back and forth.

Cody sat and stared.  T.K. had gone crazy, and Kari was trying to wake him up?  _Why is she doing that? _Cody wondered.  _Maybe there's something about those two that doesn't meet the eye at first glance.  Maybe they share a love of some sort; a love that can bond them so closely- _he paused.  _What am I thinking?  They're still kids, they can't be capable of love like that yet._

"Uhh…" T.K. stirred.

Tai's heart raced.  _Am I really ready to fight without Agumon there beside me?  What if worst comes to worst and- _he shook the "what if" thoughts out of his head.  _Only a coward thinks like that.  Do you want to go back on your crest, Taichi?  Pull yourself together.  They need you; Sora needs you.  _

The digiport allowed him in, and in seconds he was in the digiworld.  Or was he?

Sora's breath was ragged.

"Matt?  If you're t-there, p-please stop acting l-like this."

"Acting like what?"

The response chilled her to the bone.

"Am I scaring you?  Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry my dear, but you see, scaring is just my thing."

Another evil, wicked laugh.  She was beginning to despise it entirely.

"L-look, this isn't funny-"

"It's not meant to be.  Just about now your friend should be landing in that lovely little trap I set for him.  Although I'm so sorry I had to make you two lovebirds fight."

Sora sucked on her breath.  _Wait, I know that voice…that's-_

"Piedmon?  I can read your thoughts, you know.  And you hit the clown right smack on his nose!"

_I'm trapped, _thought Matt.  _Standing upright, no friends in sight…and with that damn noise still there.  What the hell **is** that?_  He couldn't help but swear, you would too if you were in his situation.  It didn't seem like it could get any worse; when his world suddenly plunged into darkness.  Then he found out what the noise was.

Footsteps.

_Footsteps?  Who could that be?_

"You're the one behind all this?!  Okay then, maybe you can answer my question.  Why Tai?"

"Why Tai what?"

"Why did you choose to have Tai cloned or copied or whatever you did?"

"That wasn't me.  That was the work of your darling friend Matt.  Which reminds me…"

Piedmon snapped his gloved fingers, and the lights flashed back on.

"You can ask Matt yourself how he made a copy of Tai.  Oh, that's _if _he can talk."  
            There was Matt; standing upright with chains crawling all over his body.  She could tell he was mad, angry at being captured in such a way.

"Let him go…he…he never did anything to you."

"Or did he?  Let me tell you something: your precious Matt used to work for me.  That's a happy thought now isn't it?" Piedmon's words suddenly grew bitter. "But that traitor betrayed me.  Unfaithful-"

"How did he betray you?" Sora shot Matt a look, one that Matt couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"I thought you would never ask!  Well you see, when you digidoofuses fought me for the first time, I had gotten a hold of one of the most rebellious in your group.  At that time he completely despised your leader, that Tai character.  I don't blame him.  Well, I told him to kill Tai off.  He was going to go through with it when something or someone stopped him.  Right when your leader was the weakest, thanks to me, he should have killed him.  But instead, he held him.  Comforted and healed his worst enemy.  It was sickening.  I still don't know what went wrong with my plan.  But that doesn't matter now!  I have a new plan!  One that will rid the digital world of all you older freaks!"

Sora rolled her eyes.  "Oh brother."

Piedmon shot her a horrible look.  "What?  Do you think my plan will fail?  Well it's already underway.  No one can stop it now!  That Tai that you think is a clone was actually dreamt up by Matt.  A dream about his mortal enemy brings to life his mortal enemy.  Now, tell me my dear, who did you dream about?"

Kari lifted her hand from T.K.'s shoulder.

"T.K.?  You okay now?"

"Huh?" T.K.'s eyes opened slowly, seemingly lost and confused. "What happened?  Wait," he grabbed Kari by the hand, "Kari, the freakiest thing happened.  I saw Devimon."

"What?!  Devimon!  But how? He didn't come or anything.  T.K., what are you talking about?"

T.K. struggled to his feet.

"I swear I saw Devimon."

Izzy slammed open the door.  "Okay, here's what we'll -, oh, T.K. your awa-"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!  It's Devimon!"

T.K. turned his head to avoid looking directly at Izzy.  Everyone looked confused.

"Uhh…T.K…I'm not Devimon."

Takeru slowly looked back at Izzy, blushing deeply.

"Oh, sorry, it's just…I guess I'm just a little freaked out right now."

"Yeah, just a little, T.K., just a little."

Izzy eyed him curiously as he walked over to one of the computers; his hate for T.K. growing more distinctive.

The light was blinding at first, but soon Taichi's eyes grew accustomed.  There was nothing but light around him, and no sign of Sora or Yamato.  _How do I even know that they ended up here?  _Taichi walked around slowly, looking in each direction, hoping to find someone or something.  The light would be broken even if the person was at some distance.  He peered at suspicious things, then, finally, he found what he was looking for.  

"What the?"

A bundled up blob was just visible.  It was standing erect and with odd lumpy things at odd intervals.  Taichi started towards it.  Then the noise started.  It sounded like someone talking; the same voice droning on and on about something or other.  After standing there for a few minutes, he caught the voice saying his name.   There it was again, and again.  But the third time someone else said his name.  A familiar voice.  Suddenly, his world turned black with a 'thud'.

Sora kept her mouth shut.  _I don't have to tell him anything.  Play stupid, Sora, play stupid. _

"I never had a dream."

"You lie!!  How else could you have gotten here?!  Now tell me, who did you see in that dream?"  
            Tears threatened to fall. 

"What dream?!  I didn't have any dream!  I just came through the digiport and-" she shut her mouth quickly.  _Does he know about the digiport?_  She caught a fleeting look of curiosity pass by his face, but nothing more.

"You know exactly what dream I'm talking about! Now-" he stopped dead.  A boy was walking towards him.  He had a massive quantity of hair that stuck up, and his silhouetted hands were clenched tight in fists.  When his face became clear, a look of dead seriousness was on it, not showing any signs of fading.  A stabbing pain of fear ran through Piedmon's body, but passed shortly.  The boy wasn't headed for him; he was headed for the chained up Matt.  Matt's eyes became wide, and muffled words escaped through gaps in the chains.

"Mmf phmffmf!  MMFPMHPF MNPFFM!!"  Yamato wriggled uncomfortably under his blanket of chains.

The figure of the boy kept his pace, and never got off of his track.  It was set straight for Matt, that wiggling teenage boy, and by the look on his face, he hadn't come to set Matt free.

        Mimi's plane had landed at Odaiba that morning, now it was late evening.  Where was everyone?  She had gone to all of her friends' houses, Jou had a _really _important test he was taking at school, and then everyone else was missing.  Maybe they were all at the school?  She quickened her pace; it was freaky out here in the dark…alone.  Back at New York she had always had her group of friends to walk with.  You could never be too safe there; there was always some guy high off drugs that was hiding in the shadows and- 

            Someone grabbed her arm.

"Huh.  I've never seen the digiport button light thingy _that _color before."

Yolei walked over to Izzy wiping sleep from her eyes.  She had obviously fallen asleep at the window.

"What color?"

"Black."

"Black?" Cody got up from his position on the floor to stand by Izzy, "what does that mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe something bad is happening that shouldn't be."

"Like Devimon," T.K. stepped forward, "he's the one behind all this.  He's the one who killed my brother."

"Umm…excuse me T.K., but who's Devimon?"

Koushiro stood up, a bewildered look on his face.  "What makes you think that it was Devimon?  It could be anything or anyone T.K."

Yolei's face went bright red with anger.

"_Excuse me, _but who is Devimon?"

"Because I saw Devimon.  I had this dream and-"

"Just because you saw him in a dream doesn't mean anything.  You were probably just having a nightmare of some sort."

"WHO IS DEVIMON?"

T.K. shook his head thoughtfully.  "But it seemed so lifelike.  And what he did…it…it just scares me."

"What did he do T.K.?"

"Well, he…never mind.  Your right Izzy, it probably isn't Devimon.  I was just over reacting."

Tai groaned and rubbed the back of his head.

"What the…?" he watched himself walk towards the bundle in the distance.  There were other bundles too, now.  One really tall one with pointy shoes, and one that looked remarkably like- Wait a second!  How could he be walking towards that bundle when…

"Umm…what the…?"

He got up and followed himself.  _Wait, how can that be me?  Unless I'm dead or something and I'm floating as an angel following myself.  _He snickered at his own stupid remark.  _Yeah, that's me, and I'm dead.  Right…when did I lose it?  And second of all, when did I die? _ Then suddenly his thoughts did seem extremely stupid.  IF he was dead, then how come his body was still moving?  He remembered his conversation with Izzy earlier.  

_"Izzy, your positive that they died?  I mean, maybe they just went somewhere or did something, and the computer is counting us down.  You know, like if we go there or do that then we'll be marked out too."_

 _"Perhaps your right Tai, we could be making a big deal about nothing."_

What if the thing that they did to get counted down was duplicating themselves?  But how?

"Mimi, what are you doing here?"

"My God, Davis, you scared the hell out of me," she sat down on a bench close to them, "what are _you_ doing out here?"

Daisuki scowled.

"Stupid T.P. threw me out a window.  The fall almost broke my leg."

Mimi looked up at him.  She was about to ask him if he was okay, when she noticed that they were by the school.  And on top of that, a light was on.  She started walking towards the school, when the full affect of Davis' words hit her.

"Wait, he threw you out a _window_?!"

Yolei, who had finally given up on finding out who Devimon was, turned her attention to the computer.

"Umm…Izzy, I think you missed something when you looked at the screen."

"Hm, like what Yolei?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, now you listen to me.  You overlooked this: T.K.'s face is x-ed out."

"What?  How?"

"There's a picture of your head, with a big, red x through it."

T.K. frowned. "You know that's not what I meant."

Izzy took a part in the conversation.  

"If you're x-ed out, and your still _here_, then that means that Matt and Sora aren't _really_ dead."

"Here's a question Izzy: when did Sora's face get x-ed out?"

"That's not important right now, Yolei, what's important is that they're okay."

"Tai! What are you doing?!" Sora watched on, horrified, as Tai approached Matt.  She looked at Piedmon.  He had a faint smile hovering around his lips.

"HA! My plan begins!"

They watched as Tai ripped the chains off of Matt, Piedmon happily and Sora being freaked out. 

"Oh my God! Tai! Stop! Stop, Tai! STOP!"

Matt sucked in the air he had been deprived of.  But not for long.  Tai punched him hard on the jaw, making a sickening sound.  Matt spit out a tooth disdainfully. 

"You little- that was a permanent."

He tackled Tai to the ground.  Suddenly the scene around them changed to a lake.  But not just any lake; it was the one that had been in Matt's dream.  Matt stopped fighting long enough to wonder if this lake had no water in it either.  Then, Tai picked him up clear off the ground and started walking towards it.  

"No! Stop! Tai! Stop it! HEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPPP!!!!!"

Tai braced himself for a sprint.  Even though he hated Matt, he wasn't about to let him get killed by a copy of himself.  No one was looking directly at him, so he could surprise everyone with a grand entrance.  But instead he was surprised himself when he splashed into icy cold water.

"GAH! Oooooo…cold! Cold!" he heard Matt screaming about ten feet away.  Luckily it droned out his own shouts.  Still, no one paid attention to him.  He sighed relief and made for the bank that was in front of him.  

Davis walked silently along beside Mimi.  In his mind he was planning ways to kill T.K., not actually knowing if he would go through with them are not.

"Hey, Mimi? What kind of death do you think would be more painful?  Slowly being dipped into acid, or being stabbed multiple times, or being shot multiple times, _or_-"

"I get the point Davis.  You want to kill T.K.  I don't see why you two can't be friends."

Daisuki refrained from picking the school lock.

"Why? _Why? _ One word…uh, I mean name: Kari."

Mimi sighed. 

"You two are still gaga over her?  Seriously Davis, what's so great about her?  Hurry up, I think I hear a car coming."

The door popped inward.

"What's so great about her?  Mimi, if you were a man you'd understand."

"Too bad you're not a man, Davis.  Now move out of the way so we can go in."


	3. Part Three

Annhilation

Part Three 

Davis and Mimi walked into the computer room at each other's throats.

            "Well, what do you think a man is like, huh?"

            "If it's any of your business, which it's not, Matt is the perfect example!"

            Daisuki choked on his spit.

            "MATT?!!  So you think a man is someone who sings and can't fight! Your messed up!"

            "HE CAN TOO FIGHT, YOU…YOU…GOGGLE-HEADED FREAK!!"

            "HEY! LAY OFF THE GOGGLES!"

            "IS THAT YOUR EXAMPLE OF BEING A MAN?! _GOGGLES!_ YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S MESSED UP!"

            "IF YOU WEREN'T A GIRL I'D BEAT YOU UP _SO _BAD-"

            "TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!"

            "GUYS!  I mean girl and guy," Izzy stepped in between them, "stop fighting, _please!_  We were just getting to the good part of my theory.  And, Mimi, what are you doing here?"

            "Well, since it's summer break, I thought I'd visit Ma- uh, you guys."

            "How thoughtful of you Mimi!" Yolei's eyes got all sparkly, "I'm so happy you came!  It's good that you came too!"

            "No, it's not, Yolei.  Mimi is now in, what I call, the Danger Zone."

            "Oooooooo…scary name, Izzy.  But why is this place 'the Danger Zone'?"

            "Mimi, I think that something is wrong with the digital world.  And this is the main opening to that something."

            Pulling himself onto the bank, Tai found himself behind Piedmon.  An idea flickered across his mind.  Surprise Attack.  Attack with Piedmon's Weapon.  Steal one of the swords strapped on Piedmon's back.  An evil grin found a place on his face.  _Goodbye Piedmon._

            He stealthily walked half the way, not making one sound.  He extended his hand the rest of the way, trying not to breath hard.  Then his hand had a firm grip around the hilt of one of the swords.   

Piedmon heard a slight scraping sound.  He listened harder.  Some shallow breathing to go along with it, too.  Someone was behind him, that was for sure.  _Hmmmm…how shall I surprise them? _ He laughed on the inside.  

_Just a little bit further.  Come on, come on.  Before this clown knows I'm here._  With a satisfying last scrape, the sword was in his possession.  

Piedmon spun around, unsheathing another one of his swords in the same movement.  

"Well…what have we here?  A thief?  I would think so."

            "What's wrong with the digiworld?" Mimi groaned, "don't tell me we have _another _enemy."

            Koushiro shrugged.

            "Your guess is as good as mine.  But I know something else that you don't."  
            Izzy pointed at the screen with the faces on it.

            "Ooo…my picture looks _good_."

            "Mimi! You're missing the point!"

            Izzy pointed at Matt's face, then Sora's, T.K.'s, and-

            "Whoa!  When did Tai's face get X-ed out?"

            Kari ran over, Cody with her.

            "What? Tai's face! Oh noo…"

            "But then that means that Tai is in the digiworld also."

Izzy grimaced at Cody's voice.

            "Yes, Cody.  Tai left for the digiworld about, ohh…a long time ago."

            Uhh…" Iori pointed at Mimi.  She was crying nonstop, looking at Matt's picture.

            "Matt! Poor *sob* Matt!  Who would do such a thing?!"

            The two fighters clashed, metal ringing off metal.  The battle reflected in Sora's eyes, wonderment also showing.  _Tai knows how to fight with a sword?  When, or where, had he learned to fight like that too?  _

            A shout emitted from Matt's throat.  The Tai that held him was jogging steadily towards the lake.  And, just like in Matt's dream, the lake lost its water.  

            Tai spun around and sped towards Matt.  Piedmon took his time to follow; even if Tai saved his friend, Piedmon would win.  He would maybe even win by backstabbing.  Funny word, but so true.

            Taichi (let's call the Tai holding Matt Taichi, k?) had finally reached the edge of the lake/canyon.  He lifted the struggling Matt high above his head, and-

            Was sliced in half.

            Matt fell to the ground with Taichi's lifeless fingers still wrapped around him.  He regained his breathing slowly, then looked up at Tai.  He had been splattered with blood in the process of killing Taichi, and looked more like a man then he had ever looked before.  Matt stumbled on his words.  What were you supposed to say to the person who had just saved your life?  Thanks, I'll be fine now?

            But he didn't have time to say thanks, because Piedmon had appeared behind Tai.

            "Tai! Behind you!"

            "Uhh…Mimi, we haven't quite figured that out yet."

            "WELL FIGURE IT OUT!"

            "Er…okay then!  Let's crack this freaky case!"  
            "Well," Davis stroked his chin thoughtfully, "I wonder… if we're our own murderers."

            Sweat drops appeared on everyone's heads. 

            "Yeah!  Like we create our own enemies!  I saw this show once where a boy drew something; a monster, and it came to life and ate him!  Isn't that awesome!"

            T.K. gritted his teeth.

            "I never want to hear the word awesome from you again."

            "What would you do about it?" Davis grinned, "awesome awesome awesome awesome awe- hrrt!"

            T.K. strangled him roughly.  

            "Shut up shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP!"

            "Hkkk…make…hykkm…me."

            "I am you idiot!"

            Mimi pried T.K.'s hands off of Davis' throat.

            "Stop it T.K.!  You should be ashamed of yourself.  What do you think Matt would say if he saw you right now?"

            "Go for it."

            Tai whipped around and met the sword that came at him with his own.  He preformed a mid-air back flip, dodging a low swing.

            "Very impressive.  But acrobatics won't change your fate."

            Piedmon charged, Tai also launching into an attack.  

            Tai's hand slipped.  The sweeping motion he had planned faltered, giving Piedmon enough time to make a move.  He took it.

            Piedmon thrust his sword, catching Tai in his side.  Still, Tai advanced, ignoring the deep wound.  If only he could get him to mess up.  _Come on, come on.  Everyone messes up at some point._

"Sorry, but _I _don't mess up, amateur."

            Tai snapped.  His swings turned more violent, and he lost his skillfulness.  This turned out to be dumb luck.  Not use to these types of blows, Piedmon faltered, enabling Tai to make the deadly swings he wanted.

            First he swung for the middle, missed by a hair, and received a cut right under his eye from Piedmon.  Then he thrust for the chest.  This, Piedmon dodged nimbly and counter-attacked by slashing Tai across _his_ chest.  Piedmon smiled broadly.

            "Nice try, amate-"

            Piedmon's head rolled to the ground.  Tai had tried a last fatal swing, and it had worked.

            "No, he wouldn't, T.K.  Now will you stop choking Davis?"  
            "Why should I?" T.K. stared at Davis, who was trying to regain his breath. 

            "Because we need to be fighting the enemy, not ourselves."

            T.K. turned on Mimi.  "Who is the enemy, huh?  Tell me that.  Who killed my brother; who killed Sora; and Tai?"

            "T.K., they're not really dead.  We've already figured that out."

            "How do you know, Koushiro?  Is it because you're such a brainiac that you think you're always right?  Well, I've got news for you, everyone messes up at some point."  He stopped talking suddenly.  Tai flashed across his mind.  Bloody and defeated, begging mercy.  T.K. smiled.  _I am so much like my brother.  I really don't like Tai at all.  Leader, uh-huh, I'm so sure.  _"Kari, I hate your brother."

            "Huh?" Kari lifted her head from her hands slowly.  She had been crying hard, not knowing if her brother was all right or not.  "Where did that come from, T.K.?"

            "I don't know, I just realized it.  He thinks he's so strong and that none of us could ever fight as well as he does…it just eats me up.  I think I speak for everyone when I say: -"

            "Help!  Guys, you gotta help us!"

            Izzy ran over and opened up the door.  "Matt?  Is that you?"

            They saw the back of Matt backing into the doorway.  He was dragging something, Sora helping out.  He collapsed backward, bringing his burden on top of him.

            "Tai!"

            Kari ran over and fell to her knees by her brother.  There was blood everywhere on him, some of it not his own.

            "Oh my gosh, Tai…"

            Matt slid Tai off of him gently.  "Do you think Jou is home to help out here?  I mean, he is training to be a doctor and everything."

            "I don't know, I went over to his house when I first got here, and he was taking a really important test at school.  But then again, he could have finished already."

            "I bet he has, Mimi.  Do me a favor and call him over here, okay?"

            Mimi fluttered her eyelashes at Matt.  "Anything for you."

            He stared at her.  

            "Mimi…you understand that Sora and I are dating, correct?"

            "Nothing is forever."

            "Whatever, just call Jou, will ya?"

            "I'm all over it," Mimi paused, "hon."

            Sora was too busy tending to Tai to overhear their conversation, which was good because she would have probably gotten into a fight with Mimi.  

            "Oh, Tai, please wake up."

            "Sora, what happened?"

            Sora looked up from Tai to Izzy.

            "You see Izzy, Matt and I were taken to a place that was just light.  We had a little fight, so we went our separate ways.  I found Piedmon, I don't know what Matt found."

            "Nothing.  But I did find out what that noise was.  It was chains.  And when I finally figured that out, they had tied me up."

            "Oh, okay.  Well, Piedmon had this new plan.  He explained it to me…and…" Sora gave Matt a look. "Matt, was he really telling the truth about that betrayal thing.  I mean, I really didn't believe it for a second.  Because you wouldn't do that…would you?"

            Matt held his breath.  She looked so hurt.  How could he tell her the truth?  He had almost killed Tai; he had almost ruined everything.  Without Wargreymon, they would have lost to Apocalymon.  Or even worse, never have gotten that far.  Knowing Piedmon, he would have killed them all after Matt had killed Tai.  He hung his head.

            "Matt…I can't believe it…I can't believe _you_."

            "Look, Sora, I've changed, okay?  I was really stupid back then, and, and…I just wasn't thinking."

            "I wasn't thinking when I started dating you.  I wasn't thinking when I turned Tai down.  Matt…I can't believe that you would ever do such a thing."

            "Sora!  I wouldn't!  That's why I didn't kill Tai!"

            "Whatever Matt!" she turned her back towards him, "I never want to see you again!"

            "Wait a second.  You're breaking up with me because of something I didn't do four years ago?"

            "That's right."

            "Uhh…who knows Jou's cell phone number?"

            Everyone stared blankly at Mimi.

            "Um…try 569-0…no, that's not right.  Maybe 956-0…that's not right either."

            "Look, Koushiro, you should know.  You're the one who's always crunching numbers."

            "Not phone numbers!  And why does everyone keep on calling me Koushiro?!"

            "Maybe it's because it's your name."

            "Look, I don't call you Yamato."

            "Oooooo…what a nice name.  And it fits so perfectly with mine…Yamato and Mimi.  Oh!  I just love the sound of it!"

            "Too bad no!  Now the phone number is: -"

            "What's going on here?!"

            "Jou!  Finally!  Do you think you can fix Tai up?"

            "Uh…hold on.  First, would someone answer my question?"

            "Uh…hold on.  First, would you save Tai's life!"

            "Gees, Matt, how big is that bee in your bonnet?"

            "BONNET!!??? I don't wear a bonnet, Koushiro!"

            "It's just an expression Matt, calm down."

            "Why shou-"

            "WOULD EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP?!!" They all stopped talking to stare at Cody, "thank you. Now, we need to figure out a way to get Tai to the hospital…right?"

            "But wouldn't they ask a whole bunch of questions and then our cover for the digiworld would be blown?"

            "Mimi," Cody sighed and rubbed at his temples, "do you want to have Tai alive and happy, or would you rather be attending a funeral?"

            "Hm…well, I _do_ look good in black…"

            "Call 911. Jou can't take care of Tai all by himself. It looks to me like Tai is really-"

            Tai's hand twitched, catching the attention of everyone. Then his head moved noticeably. He groaned. Sora placed a hand on his face and whispered to him quietly.

            "Tai…if you can hear me, please say or do something. Please, it would mean a lot to me…just please…"

            His eyes quivered slightly. Sora held her breath, Kari doing likewise. He opened his eyes partly.

            "Yes! Tai you're all right! Oh, I mean, will be all right!"

            Sirens sounded outside of the building. 

            "Tai? Do you remember when you asked me if I wanted to do something after Matt's concert?"

            "Yeah."

            "Well, even though Matt's concert is over and I never want to attend something of that creep's ever again…do you still want to do something?"

            Tai smiled at her.

            "Sure, once I get out of this prison."

            "It's not a prison Tai, and you know it. The people here just want to help you."

            "Poisoning isn't exactly what I would call helping. Speaking of which, hear it comes now…" Tai scrunched up his nose as a nurse came in with a tray of food. She laid it on a table by his bed.

            "Okay Mr. Charming, your girlfriend should leave now. She might distract you from eating all this lovely food."

            "Food? That's what you people call it? I had no idea."

            The nurse ignored him and made a '5 minutes' sign to Sora. Sora nodded as the nurse left.

            "Tell you what Tai, I'll bake you some cookies *author laughs wildly*, and sneak them into here. All right?"

            "Really? You're the best girlfriend a guy could ever ask for."

            "Oh! Which reminds me. I have to kiss you back for the time that you kissed me."

            Tai gave her an odd look.

            "What kiss?"

(There's a big window in the hallway so that the other digidestined can look into Taichi's room. Just so you know ^.^)

Matt watched Sora and Tai get closer and closer.

            "Man, I can't believe she dumped me for something I never even did. And then the next day she runs off to Tai. It doesn't make any sense to me. I thought we had the perfect relationship."

            "Maybe she was planning of dumping you all along, and that was just the perfect timing."

            "Look Mimi, I'm not going to go out with you."

            "I never even- what made you- forget it. I'm not going to ask."

            Davis grinned suddenly.

            "Hey Kari, with all this talk about dating and stuff, I was wondering-"

            "Drop dead."

            "Okay then, I'll take that as a no."

            T.K walked over to Kari.

            "Are you still upset about what I did to Davis?"

            Kari stood up quickly and walked away.

            "I'm going to go get a soda from the lounge."

            Davis snickered. "Looks like your girl just ditched you."

            "Davis…do you really want to fight again?"

            "Bring it on, T.S."

            Matt got up from the hard chair he was sitting on.

            "You two really need to give it a rest. If you start fighting I'm going to have to beat you both up."

            Izzy gave a frustrated sigh. "I still don't get what happened. No one really ever explained it to me."

            "Okay, Koushiro, it went something like this: Piedmon came back with this new plot to kill us all. What happened was that when we went unconscious the dream that we would have would become real. But the catch is that our dream is about our mortal enemy or some junk like that. For instance, I had a dream about Tai killing me; therefore a copy of Tai came into existence. Well, after Tai killed Piedmon, I guess the things that Tai, T.K., and Sora dreamed of disappeared. Got it?"

            "Yeah, I think I do. But then…what did Tai and Sora dream of?"

"I could really care less about Sora's dream; I just want to know what Tai dreamed of."


	4. Part Four

Annihilation

Part Four

            "Sora. Sora."

            Her coach was shaking her gently.

            "This is your big match! Get out there and make me proud!"

            Sora gazed at the tennis court with a distant look about her eyes. She clutched her racket tightly, turning her knuckles white. The coach, unaware of the fear present in Sora's eyes, patted her on the back.

            "Don't worry, Sora. You're one of my star players; you'll do fine." 

            Sora snapped out of the trance and nodded towards her coach politely. 

"Thank you." Her voice sounded shaky when she spoke, surprising them both.

"Look, Sora, if you don't feel well we can post pone the match."

            "Uh…no, no. I feel fine. I was just…thinking."

            "All right then, get out there and kick some Tiger butt."

            Sora felt herself smile; not at all what she wanted to do.  Her legs and feet led her automatically towards her side of the court. Gwen, her doubles partner, smiled and waved with her racket. Sora returned her greeting with a weak smile, causing Gwen to get a worried look. She mouthed the words 'what's wrong?'. Sora gave her a 'nothings-wrong' smile. But, of course, it was lie.

            Tai shifted uncomfortably on the metal bench to make room for Davis. 

            "Look, I'm not totally helpless, Davis. You don't have to follow me everywhere."

            Davis crossed his arms over his chest. "Now what would happen if that Dark Master Dude came back and tried to kill you? Who would protect you, huh? Obviously not yourself, Mummified Tai."

            "You mean Piedmon?"

            "Yeah, yeah. That guy."

            Tai rolled his eyes. "Davis, Piedmon is not coming back, okay? Also, what did I tell you about calling me 'Mummified Tai'?" 

            "That you would break both of my arms, wrap me around a streetlight-" He paused, putting a finger to his chin.

            "In the East side."

            "Oh yeah! In the East side, tie me up in the bandages that you have on, attach a slab of meat to me and blow a dog whistle." He grinned, bringing the finger up to his eye, he pulled down his bottom eyelid and stuck his tongue out. "But to bad you need those bandages to keep you together, Mummified-"

            "Do you think I was kidding?"

            "Shutting up."

            "Good. Now will you stay quiet the rest of Sora's match? This match decides who wins the tournament, remember?"

            Davis performed the 'zipped' motion around his lips, putting on his most innocent face.

            Tai sighed but then grimaced. The cut on his side throbbed with the effort. Davis stood up quickly and stared at Tai.

            "Yo buddy, are you okay?"

            "I'm fine, but – hey, I thought you were going to stay quiet the rest of the match."

            "Heh heh. Oh, that's right. Um," Davis got down on his knees, "please don't hurt me!"

            "Shut up and watch the game- er, match."

            Sora wiped the sweat off of her forehead and took a brief glance at Tai in the stands. _Maybe I can talk to him after my match. This whole affair is really freaking me-_

            "Sora!!"

            "Huh?! Wha-"

            The tennis ball flew towards her at an alarmingly fast speed. It slammed onto the court and grazed the top of her head when it bounced upwards. The server raised her arms into the air to boast about her serve.

            "Oh yeah! An ace! She never even saw it coming!" 

            Gwen stormed up to the net and yelled over the top of it about the ball being out. A heated argument started, both girls trying to get the ref on their side. It was all a blur to Sora; a far off sound that didn't seem to even exist. A chill swept over her; running down her spine and through her entire body. Nothing seemed to be there, nothing at all. The yelling opponents, the applauding crowds, they just disappeared. Lost in a world of darkness that Sora herself was sucked into.

            Tai leaned forward. "Davis, what's wrong with Sora?"

            "Mmfshnk…I dunno. Want a nacho?"

            "Where did you- oh, forget it. I think that we should check on Sora. She looks…odd."

            Davis continued stuffing his face with nachos. "So."

            Tai struggled to his feet and started walking towards the fence. "Now where's the door?" he continued muttering to himself (the occasional 'stupid Davis' slipping in) while he searched for a gate.

            "Hey! Wait for me!" Wolfing the rest of his nachos down, Davis sprinted after Tai. He caught up with him just as he was opening a gate. 

            "You weren't just going to leave me, right?"

            Tai didn't answer him.

            "Right? Hey, come on. Don't give me that silent treatment thing. I care about your girlfriend too, it's just…the nachos were begging to be devoured."

            "Uh-huh, sure Davis." Tai walked quickly up to Sora and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, you okay? Sora?"

            She stared blankly at the net, not blinking once. The world around her had gone black, no noise, no people, and no light. Tai shook her slightly.

            "Hey, come on. They're starting the point over. Sora?" Tai looked towards Gwen, who was watching them intently. "Gwen, do you have some water?"

            She nodded dumbly and ran over to her bag. Yanking out a water bottle, she jogged over to them. She handed her bottle to Tai, who unscrewed the top and splashed some of the water onto Sora's face. She blinked and shook her head.

            "Huh? Tai?!" A tear rolled down her face. "Is Piedmon…even if you did get rid off him, Tai, is there a chance that…"

            Tai looked deeply into her eyes. "That what? The dreams would still become a reality?"

            Gwen gave them both funny looks. "Okay, obviously you guys are talking about something I missed so…I'll just go back over here." She pointed towards her original spot and walked towards it.

            Sora nodded at Tai, another tear finding it's way down her profile. He let his arm slide down her back as he held her close.

            "Don't worry, Sora. I doubt that the dreams could come true now. Piedmon's dead. Without him, there's no way."

            She looked up at his face and smiled through her tears. She ran a finger over the bandage under his eye. "It would be a shame if it could happen; the dreams coming true. You would have gotten hurt for nothing."

            He put on a brave face and talked in a voice deeper than his own. "Don't worry! I can take the heat! And I'd do it again if I could."       

            She giggled. "Oh, right. I should have known. Now go back to your bench and don't worry about me."

            He kissed her softly. "Win the match, okay? I think your coach is counting on you."

            Sora looked back at her coach who was giving her a severe look. "Yeah, you better go."

            _Here it is again, my dream. But something is different. It's darker. I can see him more clearly now. The screaming…that's clearer too. Why is Matt there? He's just standing, watching me. Watching me die. Watching all of us die. Matt! Why won't you help us?! Help! Please! Don't let him come any closer! MAAAAAATTTTTTTT!!_

Sora shot straight up in bed, sweat trickling down the back of her neck. 

            "Matt…" she wiped away a tear and looked around her room. Sunlight poured through the blinds and filled the small bedroom, illuminating every corner. Sora sighed heavily and flipped her covers over. She crawled out of bed and walked towards her mirror. If Tai was right, then she shouldn't be having this dream anymore. A shiver ran down her back, making the fine hairs on her neck stand up. _Why won't Matt help us?_ She started brushing her hair half-heartedly, but abandoned the task after a few strokes. Her mother knocked on the door.

            "Sora, Tai's on the phone for you," she opened the door and frowned at Sora, "you're not even dressed yet. It's almost noon, Sora."

            "Sorry, mother. I guess I was just tired from the match yesterday. May I have the phone?"

            "Here." Her mother tossed it towards her and left, closing the door behind herself.

            She brought the phone up to her ear and frowned slightly. There was talking on the other end. _I hate it when he talks to Kari…_

            "Sora? You there?"

            "Yes, I'm here. Was that Kari you were talking to?"

            "Yeah. She's been wanting more and more of my time lately. I guess the whole Davis or T.K. thing is getting to her."

            "Mm."

            "But that's not what I called you about. I was wondering if – I mean, everyone was really wondering – if you would like to go to the digiworld today."

            Sora sighed. "Is it safe?"

            "Yeah; Izzy went yesterday to see for himself. Look, you don't have to come if you don't want to."

            "K then."

            "Does that mean no or yes."

            "No."

            There was a pause on Tai's side. "Okay…well, see…you around, I guess."

            "Bye." She clicked off without waiting to hear his goodbye. The moment she put the phone down she regretted it. She usually never got a call from Tai; sometimes he would just show up at her door to make a date. A sigh swelled up in her chest, but she swallowed it down. Today she would spend alone.

            Kari watched Tai slowly put the phone back on the receiver. He turned around to look at her, confusion on his face. 

            "What'd she say?"

            "No."

            "Hm, that's odd." Kari got up from her position on the couch and walked over to the fridge.

            "Soda?"

            "How 'bout a tequila? I can't believe she said no," he stared at the floor hard, "usually it's Matt who says no…"

            "Uh…you better be joking about the tequila thing, because we don't have the stuff to make it."

            She stared after her brother as he walked into their room. "Okay then…no soda for him."

            Tai flopped onto his bottom bunk, thoughts racing through his mind. Something was definitely wrong with Sora. The match yesterday…she had seemed so distant and…afraid. Tai shook his head. Piedmon was dead, that was for sure. Maybe something else was out there, after Sora. After all the digidestined. And as leader it was his responsibility to find out what. So he would go to the digital world today. To look. But for what? He had no idea what to look _for_. Maybe Sora could give him a hint. She knew what was happening to herself, but obviously didn't want to share. Tai grew so deep in thought that when Matt burst through the door he didn't even notice.

            "Hey! Tai! You ready to go? Koushiro has everything ready, and Yolei brought all the snacks! Hey…Tai?"

            Izzy walked through the open bedroom door, scowling at Matt. "Call me Izzy."

            "I'll call you whatever I like, Koushiro. Isn't that right, Tai, m' buddy."

            "I thought you hated Tai, Yamato."

            "No. I hate Mimi, Koushiro."

            Tai got up slowly and walked towards the window. He opened it and stuck his head out.

            "Have you ever noticed how the wind blows stronger up here? Like it wants to pull you through the window, just so you can be with it?"

            Izzy and Matt exchanged glances.

            "Or how everyday people awe over the sun's set or rise, not because they understand it, but because they want the people around them to think they're sophisticated, or smart? Truthfully, I hate the sunset. But there are times when I can't help but stare at it until it disappears."

            "This is what you think about?"

            "No, Koushiro, this is what I want you to think about. I'm not going today. I have to be somewhere else; somewhere where I'm needed a lot more."

            Matt's face turned red. "With Sora? I bet that's why you're not going. You have to be with your precious girlfriend, don't you?"

            "No. She wants to be alone today. Everyone needs their space once in awhile."

            "All right then. We'll be back around three. Isn't that right, Yamato?"

            "Yeah, whatever."

            Tai heard the door click shut behind them. He leaned farther out of the window, looking down. Feelings swelled up inside of him, begging to be released. He shook his head softly.

            "I don't cry."

            Sora yanked a tank top on quickly. She slipped into a pair of jean shorts and rushed out into the living room still buttoning them. Her mother looked up from a steaming pot at the stove.

            "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

            "The park."

            "Oh? Are you meeting someone there?"

            "Maybe."

            "Maybe? Well, can't you wait until after lunch? It's almost done."

            "I can buy something at a store."

            "Well don't be too late. I'm expecting com-"

            Sora ran out the door before she could finish. She didn't stop running until she reached the bottom of the apartment complex's stairs. Jogging steadily, she headed any way she could; weaving through traffic, and cutting through ally ways. She stopped abruptly.

            "What am I doing?" her voice echoed in the long, empty ally way. There were two enormously tall buildings on either side of her, reaching up into the sky, each trying to out reach the other. She looked up at the visible sliver of sky overhead. The empty boxes and papers here reeked of hopelessness, and the air had a stench of forgetfulness. Her gaze dropped back down as she watched a rat scurry by. It had someplace it was going, unlike her. She dropped to her knees and began to cry. "What do you want with me?"

            A small breeze picked up, carrying some of the papers along with it. They swirled and danced in the wind, teasing Sora as they moved in circles around her.

            "Go away…please. Stop following me. I'm not strong enough for this. I'm not strong enough for anything. Leave me alone…please." Her voice died down to a whisper as the scenery around her started to shift.  

            _When I feel like I know everything, like I've figured everything out…something happens so that I know that I nor anyone else could never actually know everything. It's just that…sometimes I feel like I understand, or even worse, I act like I understand, when in actuality, I don't. I don't know that right off. I think I'm helping when I'm actually hurting. Being leader of the digidestined isn't easy, that's why_

            "Tai!! Come out here and help with the groceries! Bring your sister too!"

            Tai threw down his pen and buried the half finished letter under his pillow. He swallowed hard, the lump in his throat moving down to his stomach. 

            "Tai?! Would you get out here!"

            "Uh…COMING!" he wiped his eyes, checking for moisture. Luckily, he hadn't let his emotions get the best of him.

            "Where's Kari, dear?" his mother didn't bother to turn and look at him as he walked out of his bedroom.

            "Oh, she went to Yolei's house. She'll be back around three."

            "And what about you?" she opened up the fridge and started putting things away. "What did you do all day?"

            "I…just watched T.V. and stuff."

            "Does 'and stuff' mean you cleaned your room?"

            "No."

            "Tai, I keep on asking you to do that. When will you get to it? Never mind. Just never mind. I work around forty hours a week and you don't do one thing to help out. Not one thing."       

            "I have to go to school, mom. Doesn't that count for something?"

            "Well, schools almost out. During the summer this house better be nothing but shiny. And if it's not, then I'm not letting you out of the house anymore. You hear? So that means no more seeing Sora or any of your other friends."

            "Okay, okay, I get it."

            She stopped unloading a brown paper bag and looked at him. She seemed very worn out and tired as she sighed heavily. Tai passed a worried glance at her.

            "You getting enough sleep, mom?"

            "I'll be fine. It's just this whole taking care of you kids while your fathers gone. It's a lot of work. That's why I'd like you to help out more Tai."

            "I will." He would have rather said that he had a life too, but decided against it. She was right, of course, he didn't help around the house that much, but he had a lot of things to do and people to see. _Great, _he thought_, another thing added to my list of worries: my mom._

            "Did you eat lunch?"

            "Hm? Uh, yeah." Tai looked towards his bed. He could just picture the letter crammed underneath his pillow, and the last sentence he had started writing. He started walking towards it.

            "Well, would you mind helping me cook dinner for tonight. I have a recipe that takes awhile, so it needs to be started right now."

            Tai forced a smile as he turned around. "Sure."

  
            Matt put the soda can down and took a bite of a doughnut. 

            "Mmm…you know exactly what kind of food I like, Yolei."

            "I only raided about half of my parents store. There better be something here that you like."

            Izzy picked half-heartedly at a sushi. "Matt, are you worried about Tai?"

            "Why should I be? Tai can take care of himself."

            "You sure about that?" Everyone stopped to stare at Izzy. "What about his sanity?"

            "Look, I know that Tai was acting a little strange today, but that doesn't mean that he could go crazy. I mean, what would he go crazy about?"

            Kari started choking on her drink suddenly. Davis leapt to his feet.

            "Don't worry Kari! I'll save you!" 

            She stopped as suddenly as she had started, spitting out some of the fluid. 

            "Oh, heh heh, sorry about that. I tried to swallow too much of it."

            Izzy passed her a funny look. "Okay then…I'm not sure, Matt, but it seems like something has been bothering him."

            Matt nodded. "And Sora, too."

            "I thought that Sora didn't exist according to you."

            "Well, she doesn't. It's just that…" Matt blushed faintly but turned his head away. "Look, shouldn't we be getting back?"

            Jou stole a glance at his watch. "AH! It's six! I told my mom I'd be home by three! Guys! You gotta cover for me!"

            T.K. looked doubtfully up at the sky. "Uh…I'm not Einstein or anything, but…wouldn't the sky be a little bit darker if it was six?"

            Davis shot him a nasty look and started muttering under his breath. He tore the head off of an animal cracker and threw the body in T.K.'s direction. It fell short miserably and failed to catch T.K.'s attention. Kari let a giggle escape her covered mouth. None of the others noticed the smile that passed between Kari and Davis, as they were all too busy laughing at Jou as he struggled to pull his watch off. 

            "Come on! I paid good money for you, ya stupid watch! Where are the instructions to this thing?! What are you all laughing about? You wouldn't like it if you had a watch that rebelled! Would you?!"  
            Davis jerked his head in a direction away from the group and mouthed the word 'talk'. Kari smiled knowingly. They got up and left the group, no one realizing their departure.

Matt stood staring at her. His breath made white puffs as he breathed in and out, watching her in the cold weather. Sora struggled to move her arms, then her legs, as she returned Matt's gaze. _Help me, help me, _she pleaded, but her lips had been frozen together. _Please Matt, I'm begging you. If not me, than the others. Please, Matt. _

            Snow drifted down steadily, falling on her hair and tickling her nose. She looked sideways, the muscles in her neck screaming with disapproval. There they all stood, just like her. With shackles and frostbitten fingers. Her friends. The people she had fought alongside of. Now she was going to die alongside them. Excluding Matt. He stood there, watching. Watching her. _Matt…please…_

            She forced her muscles to move. First curling her fingers, then a slight bending at the wrist. _Matt…_He stood watching; a slight amusement twinkled in his eyes. He was enjoying this. Every moment of it. She looked back at him. He stood there with hands shoved deep in the pockets of a parka. A tuft of blond hair could be seen from beneath the parka hood, dancing in the wind that had risen. 

            The snow stung now. Every place it touched, she could feel the cold seeping through to her bones until her insides were frozen with ice. _MATT PLEASE! _Matt's eyes looked down the line, studying each of the faces that he came across, then back up again, to Sora. A smile spread itself across his face, barely visible in Sora's eyes. Snow blurred across her vision and her hair whipped at her eyes until she was forced to close them. _Matt…please help us…save us…_

            The two figures walked side by side, neither speaking. Davis took in a breath and let it out slowly. 

            "Kari…I just wanted to say that…I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such a jerk lately and…and I hope that you'll forgive me."

            Kari stopped walking and looked at Davis seriously. "You shouldn't be the one saying that, Davis. I'm the one who's the jerk."

            "Huh? No you're not Kari."

            "Yes I am! Just look at how I make you and T.K. fight over me!" Her eyes shimmered with tears. "Sometimes I think that my crest is useless. That, no matter how hard I try, my light will never shine. That's if I have any light of course."  
            Davis stood in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. "What do you mean, Kari? You have more light than anyone that I know. You're the one who can always make people smile and enjoy life to the fullest. And…Kari, please don't cry."

            She broke and buried her face into his shoulder. "Davis…I…can't always be happy! Do you know what it does to me? I…need moments to be sad, too. Or angry. Or even hateful. Everyone does! Don't you understand that?"  
            Davis let his arms slide down her back slowly. He shook his head. "No. No I don't."

            Her sobs died down and she lifted her head slightly. "Do you…do you mean that everyone should be happy all the time?"  
            "Of course not. Can you imagine living in a world like that? Everyone would have to have at least three cups of coffee in the morning to get them half way through the day." He gave a fake shudder. "The word 'prep' wouldn't be considered an insult. And everyone would be smiling all the time. There's no way anyone could accomplish such a thing; so I don't know why you try."

            "I don't. It's just…I feel like I have to make up for the people who aren't happy. You know, to balance it out." 

            "I think I understand, but…how about this: You cut down the happiness by half, and I'll take care of that. Okay?"

            Kari smiled into his shoulder. "You're already happy enough."

            "I could be nicer to T.K. That would make up for the lost happiness."

            "You would do that? You would be nice to the person who threw you out of a window?"  
            "Uh…let's not bring that up, 'k?"

            "Okay."

            "So now, you can fill up that space that used to be filled with happiness with sadness, hate, whatever you want. And you leave all the rest up to me."

            "Thank you, Davis. I never knew that you could be so thoughtful or nice."

            "Oh. That's just because I cover all that mushy stuff up so no one gets a crush on me."

            Kari lifted her head and looked at him, confused. "Why would you do that?"

            He winked. "Because there's only one girl I can love."

            "Where was I, where was I…" 

            Tai lay sprawled on his bed digging underneath his pillow. His hand clenched around the now crinkled paper, and he pulled it out slowly. 

            He sighed. "I can't do this. It…it just doesn't feel right." He let it drift from his hand to the floor, staring out of the window as he did. "Sora, Matt, Izzy, they're all counting on me to be a good leader. I can't let them down, not yet. I can make it through this. I'm man enough," he gulped, "I think."

            He looked back down at the paper. It seemed to be staring at him, pleading him to write more, to go through with it. He turned his head away quickly.

            "No. I'm strong enough. My courage will never die."


	5. Part Five

Annihilation

**Part Five**

Sora awoke to sirens. The sound echoed and bounced off of the tight ally way walls, as did the red and blue lights. She pushed up off of the ground slowly, trying to gather her memory. A dog barked somewhere close by, making her heart pump faster. The police cars passed by quickly and the ally way darkened once again. The light was poor, and fading quickly.

            She tried moving her leg from under her body, but it had fallen asleep as well, needle like pricks going up and down it. She gritted her teeth and forced it to move, all the while a fear at the back of her mind screamed to be noticed.

            She was in an ally way, all alone, in an unfamiliar part of town, with no way of knowing how long she had been asleep. 

            Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she stood up. 

            "Mom…" she wrapped her arms around her waist and stated to cry, "Tai?"

            "Tai! The phones for you!"

            "Okay!"

            Tai ran out to the living room and grabbed the phone from Kari, who looked remarkably perkier. Kari smiled and listened in on Tai's side of the conversation.

            "Hello?…No, she's not here." A pause. "You can't find her? Did she tell you where she was going?…To the park? Okay, I'll help look. I'll be over there in five minutes. Okay Mrs. Takenouchi?…No problem, bye."

            "What's the matter? Sora's missing?"

            "Yeah, her mom says that she went to the park around noon and hasn't come back." Tai shrugged on a windbreaker.

            "Is that where you're going?"

            "No. Sora never goes to the park. She just told her mom that to get out of the house."

            "So…where are you going to look?"

            "Where I feel like it. Tell mom that I don't know what time I'll be back, k?"

            A stubborn look passed Kari's face. "I want to look too."

            "No. You need to stay here to tell mom where I went. Besides, mom didn't take a key, so she'll need you to let her in."

            "Fine." Kari walked back over to the couch and flopped down. She switched on the T.V. sullenly and sat watching the news.

            "Bye, Kari. I'll try to be back soon, but no promises. Anyway, Sora really needs me right now." He opened the door and stepped out into the chilly spring night.

            "Well she's not the only one…"

            Davis lay on his bed, a smile spreading itself across his features. He had finally won Kari over. The kiss they had shared…it wasn't a kiss that a friend would give to another friend…it had been for real. He rolled onto his back and grinned up at the ceiling fan. He was bursting with happiness; dying to rub the kiss in T.K.'s face.

            "I bet that they've never kissed before."

            "Who?"

            "Huh?! Jun! Get out of my room!" Davis jumped up from his bed and ran over to the doorway. Jun backed up a little bit, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. 

            "Oh! Little Davis finally got kissed! He's a grown man now!"  
            "That's none of your business! Why don't you go obsess over that poster of Matt in your room? I bet you'll love the new look I gave it."           

            "WHAT?! Davis- if you touched that poster-"

            He slammed the door on her face and locked it (a special feature he had added himself for situations like these). He put his ear against the door and heard a satisfying screech.

            "DAVIS!!"

            Sora cried uncontrollably for a long while. Letting her pains and misfortunes get the best of her. Thoughts ran through her head, about her mother, digimon, Tai, her dreams. About the one dream she kept on having. It played like a recording over and over in her sleep, making her nights restless and unbearable. Even during the day she was haunted by the images of her and her friends, while Matt just watched. Always watching. That's what it seemed like in real life too. She could tell it was for a different reason though. 

            "Matt…"she started walking slowly towards the visible road. A streetlight illuminated part of the run down street, once in awhile passing cars broke the light. They drove past, oblivious to the girl that stood next to the streetlight pole, face stained with tears. "Matt…" 

            Tai didn't even bother stopping at Sora's apartment. He walked past it, ignoring all of the police cars parked in the lot. Wasn't Mrs. Takenouchi under enough stress without cops asking her questions about Sora? But that didn't matter. Sora would be back soon, with Tai's help of course. 

            He walked slowly. Somehow he could feel where her footsteps had been. The route that she had taken stood out to him. Certain warmth emitted from the concrete sidewalk to his feet as he traced each of her steps. 

            His mind wandered to many things as he walked the trail taken by Sora. He started to think about the days when he and the other digidestined had first gone to the digital world. The first night out in the words, and waking up to Jou's complaining. He smiled somewhat, remembering how young and inexperienced they had been. But the corners of his mouth lowered as he relived the time when Greymon had gone into Skullgreymon. How stupid he had been to run straight into the battle and risk his own life. And he had expected Greymon to digivolve with the power of his courage? There had been no courage in that act, just like all of the other times. The times when everyone would be impressed by his courage, when he would be impressed. But he was stupid back then, and he wished with all of his heart that he could show them just how courageous he was now. 

            Tai stopped his slow pacing and studied the ground. If he could only get the chance. He could change the image that they had in their minds of a small boy with a big ego. He sighed. But when he had killed Piedmon that had used courage. He continued to stare at his feet. But not enough courage. He had more; he just needed a way to prove it. 

            "Tai?"

            Tai's head whipped upwards. 

            "Sora?"

            "Tai!" Sora ran to him and flung her arms around his neck. "Tai! It…I…" her voice trailed off, no words coming to mind.

            "Don't worry, I understand. But you shouldn't have dragged your mother into this."

            "What do you mean?" she gave a sigh and covered Tai's mouth with her hand. "Forget it, we talk too much."

            Tai's eyebrows rose up in a surprised smile as Sora locked lips with him. They stood for a moment in the circle of light kissing, Sora practically on tiptoe. When they broke apart, which they did eventually, a smile passed over both of their faces. 

            The streetlight flickered. The chilly breeze that Sora had felt earlier came back now, chasing papers and leaves around them.

            "Tai…" Sora clutched hold of his shirt and pushed herself against him. "Do you feel that?"

            Tai tightened his grip around her. "No…what?"

            She didn't respond. With sudden intensity, the breeze transformed into an icy wind, tugging at their clothes and closing their eyes. Sora screamed out Tai's name, but it was swept away on the wind. The stormy wind performed circles around them; going so fast that the image of the two teenagers was blurred. 

            Sora opened her eyes and she could hear a voice singing. Faint and hindered by the whirlwind, it could barely be heard. She closed her eyes tightly and began to pray.

            "The wind will chill you,

            The snow will freeze you.

            Lips blue,

            And fingers purple,

            Freeze, my children, freeze.

            "Then comes the dragon,

            Fiery with rage,

            His breath will burn you,

            Like a blue flame. 

            Burn, my children, burn.

            "For icy is the death, 

            And fiery is the end.

            Die, my children, die."

Inside the cyclone of wind, Sora clung grimly onto Tai, pretending to not hear the song. About death. About her death. About Tai's death. 

            Izzy tapped furiously at his laptop.

            "Come on, Koushiro, we don't have all day. You need to find them, and you need to find them now."

            "Shut up, I'm going as fast as I can. Have you ever tried locating someone in Odaiba just using a city map that you're not even supposed to have?"

            Matt shook his head slowly. "Can't say that I have…"

            "Good. Then shut up."

            He continued pounding at the keys, eyes not leaving the screen once. 

            "Hey! Hey, I think I've got something here…" 

            "What?! I don't see anything."

            "That's because you're blind, Yamato. You don't see the blinking circle?"

            "Uhh…"Matt squinted his eyes. "Oh, yeah, sorry. But what does that have to do with Tai and Sora?"

"Idiot! Can't you see that I've narrowed everything down to this dot? I'm positive that's them!" 

            Matt looked doubtfully at the computer screen, a slight breeze ruffling his hair. Izzy glanced at him before continuing to type.

            "Are you doubting my navigational skills?"

            "What does this have to do with navigation?" Matt cowered under Izzy's severe look. "Uh…I mean, no. No, of course not. Why would I ever doubt you, oh great and mighty Koushiro?"

            Izzy slammed down the top of the portable computer and stood up from his place on the bench quickly. "Listen, Yamato, are you going to follow me or what? We're about a mile away from them, and if we run we can make it under ten minutes."

            Matt's eyes widened. "Ten?! Look, I'm a singer, not an athlete."

            "Too bad. Do you want to save them are not?"

            Matt straightened out his back and gave Izzy a funny look. "How do you know that they're in danger?"

            Izzy looked up towards the night sky. It was perfectly clear. It seemed that every star in existence had gathered above the spot that he stood on, and they smiled down upon him. 

             "I just do, Matt."

            And without another word, Izzy packed his laptop away and, slinging the carrier onto his back, began to jog. Matt hesitated a moment. He looked up at the stars, a sinking feeling in the bottom of his stomach beginning to form. 

            "Sora where are you." He ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes, the sound of Izzy's footsteps fading away.

            Tai's eyes shot open as pain greeted his awaking. His wrists were raw and bleeding from the shackles that imprisoned him, and the wounds from his battle with Piedmon throbbed from the cold. A groan emitted his mouth.

            Snow fell steadily around him and he could feel his back pressed up against something cold and stiff. His eyes opened fully as he recollected his last moments of consciousness. The person that had been clinging onto him…

            "Sora…" he moved his arm slightly against the howling wind that had started. "Sora…" He grimaced as blood began moving in his arm. The chains of his shackles rattled as he pulled against them. He tried moving his legs; first curling his toes then bending slightly at the knee. The gale seemed to close in around him, whipping his hair in every direction. "Sora, no!"

            He pulled full against the chains as he struggled with them wildly.

            "SORA!! SORA!!" The shackles on his wrists cut in deeply, and the snow pierced his body to the bone, freezing it through all the way. "Sora…" His shouts died down as he slid to the ground, back against the cold unknown wall, depressed and beaten.

            Her name being shouted was enough to bring Sora back into consciousness. She shivered as a gust of cold air hit her, as if opening the door to a freezer. She opened her eyes little by little, seeing the flakes of snow fall off of her eyelashes. Hair hit her face, but the cold had numbed her so that she couldn't feel it. The feeling in her fingers had gone also, and her feet were unmovable as they were buried in snow. 

            "…die, my children, die…"

            The words echoed softly in her ears, being the last thing that she had heard. A sigh passed her blue lips and she closed her eyes very slowly, drifting back into an unconscious sleep.

            The doorbell rang, interrupting Davis' thoughts. 

            "Jun! Would you get the door?!" It rang again. "Jun!" The musical tone reached his ears yet again, forcing him to jump up off of his bed. 

            "Coming, coming." Davis dragged himself over to the doorway, pausing to pick up a note on the half wall. His eyes skimmed over it as he twisted the doorknob. "Gone to get another Matt poster? Stupid Jun…"

            "Hi Davis!"

            "Huh? Oh, uh, Mimi. What are you doing here?"

            Mimi pushed past him and walked into the entry hall. "Oh nothing…it's just that my parents sent me off again…I'm really starting to think that they don't love me."

            "Gee, I wonder why. So, uh, it's amazing that they let you come here so often."

            Mimi whipped around, her light brown hair swishing behind her. "It's Spring break over in America, silly!"

            Davis walked past her into the kitchen and yanked at the fridge door. "Whatever. I wasn't exactly asking what you were doing in Odaiba, I meant what are you doing at _my _house?"

            "You were closest. Speaking of which, do you know where everyone else is? Hey, can I have one?"

            "No, sorry. There was only one soda left. And no, I don't know where everyone else is. I don't find it amusing to stalk people."

            "Is that supposed to mean something?"

            Davis studied her face for a moment, and then decided to change the subject. "How many times have you changed your hair color?"

            "Forget it. I'll find them by myself." Davis drank his soda casually, as if Mimi had not just stormed out on him. He walked over to the door and took another sip, choking on it as a screech sounded from outside. 

            "Mimi!" Davis dropped the can and ran out the door, towards the swirling whirlwind that held Mimi inside. "Mimi! Hold on!"

            He struggled to get closer to her, but the powerful winds pushed him back. "Mimi! No!" 

Davis charged towards it, straining every muscle in his legs, but a staggering blast of wind knocked him off of his feet and flung him backwards, off of the veranda. 

            Mimi opened her left eye slightly, just in time to see the last of Davis' feet disappearing over the railing. She felt a noticeably large rock of fear fill her stomach as the ground below her disappeared and the scenery around her went black. 

            "Whoa, wait a second. Where are they?"

            Matt halted behind Izzy, his breath coming out in gasps. "You mean to tell me that they're not here?"  
            "Do you see them here. Yamato?" there was noticeable tinge of sarcasm in Izzy's voice. 

            "No I do not, Koushiro. So where are they? You're the genius here; find them." 

            Izzy slung his backpack onto the ground and pulled out his laptop. Matt let out a frustrated sigh. 

            "Look, do you really have to use a computer to find them? Can't you just call out their names like a normal person?"

            "I'm not a normal person and besides, this way is more efficient." 

            "Uh…Izzy?"

            "I'm kinda busy here."

            "Izzy…look…"

            Izzy peered over the top of his computer, his eyes going into miniature saucers. A whirlwind almost three stories tall was headed straight for them.

            "MATT RUN!!" Izzy grabbed his laptop and sweat dropped as he saw Matt running away, getting tinier and tinier. "Matt…?" He could feel the whirlwind closing distance, and finally it was upon him. 

            Sora awoke once again as she felt hot air blasted onto her face. She opened her eyes gradually, seeing a blue figure in front of her face and feeling it's rancid breath fall upon her profile. 

"For icy is the death,

            And fiery is the end.

            Die, my children, die."

Now that the voice was closer, it had a demented tone to it, as if the person (or thing) saying it was demented himself or herself. 

            The form before her grew clearer as she opened her eyes more. Their eyes roved around wildly as if searching, forever searching. Sora held back her breath and tried not to breathe in too deeply. A stench of rottenness followed the creature around (which might have been carried by the blue cloak that it wore) and whenever it moved the slightest bit, a new batch of the stench engulfed her. The forever-searching eyes were set deep into the creature's face, producing black shadows that helped illuminate the yellowness of the eyes.

            "Sora! Over here!" 

            Sora looked swiftly away from the beast in front of her towards the sound of Tai's voice. He was positioned about ten feet away from her and was wearing shackles, as was she. Tai smiled a weak smile at her and then turned his head slightly to look at the blue creature. He scrunched up his face as a blast of air carried the horrendous stench towards him. A little smile spread itself across Sora's face. _Stupid Tai…_

            The blue "thing" gave a sudden snort of happiness and scuttled off towards Tai. It ran full up to him, practically touching his chest as he (or it) skidded to a stop. It tried straightening out it's hunched back to look at Tai in the eyes. It gave a broad grin, showing off crooked and yellow teeth.  

            "You…you first." 

            Tai raised his eyebrows at it. "First for what, hunchback?" The creature barred its fangs and spat at Tai, blood rising behind its eyes. 

            "No one, no one calls Kahandro that. They hurt my feelings…yes…hurt them very much."

            "And your point?" 

            "You…you'll not be so sassy when the dragon comes. He'll burn you, but me…I shall freeze first."

            Tai shifted uncomfortably. "Well if you're going to kill me, kill me already."

            He averted his head as the creature let out short rasps, a somewhat laughing type of sound. 

            "Me…I shall not kill you. No. Kahandro no kill. Kahandro _freeze_."

            Its back popped as it straightened into a rigid position. It sucked in a deep breath and stood directly in front of Tai. 

            Tai could feel his heart beating abnormally fast. His eyes flickered over to Sora. She had pulled all the way against her chains to get a good look at Tai. He saw the tears that rolled down her cheeks, and he felt sudden warmth being emitted from her. Like her footsteps. How could he have felt her footsteps? Even now, when he felt nothing but cold, the thought of her and the sight of her was enough to bring a warm feeling to his heart. Tai swallowed hard. _Are we…are we soul mates?_

            A blast of icy cold wind slammed into his body, smashing him against the cold wall. He felt the ice build around him and he saw the blue creature smiling. But he couldn't think. Tai felt his hands get plastered to the burning cold snow below him. He closed his eyes and felt pain all the way up and down the length of his body. The cold burned as it piled around him, engulfing his chest, then eventually his neck. The creature let forth his demented laugh as ice covered Tai's face completely. 

            Davis fell screaming, waving his arms and legs about for all that he was worth. The ground came quicker than he expected, rearing up to catch him non-too gently. The wind was knocked out of him as he slammed into it, his eyes opening wide. 

            "Ou…gees." Davis flipped over onto his side and gently touched his lips. He pulled back his hand, not too surprised to see crimson red on the tips of his fingers. He lay there on his side watching his hand shake in the air. 

            "Um…are you okay?"

            He looked up to see a little kid around ten years old gawking at him. He laid his head back down and released a frustrated sigh. 

            "Just go away. Aren't you supposed to be asleep or something?"

            The child continued to stare at him. Davis once again looked at him, a watch on the child's left wrist catching his attention. 

            "Hey…what time is it?"

            "Around eleven. Are you sure you're alright?"

            Davis gritted his teeth together as he pushed himself up. "I've never felt better; now would you go away?" he straightened out his shirt here and there, dismissing the child wordlessly. Still, his admirer/gawker stared at him, open-mouthed. "I said go away, kid."

            "What happened?"

            "None of your business."

            "Pweese?"

            Davis shuddered. Stupid children and their stupid 'pweese's. 

            "You wouldn't understand, now go away kid so I can think."

            "Okay mister."

            Davis watched him walk off like he hadn't a care in the world. A smile appeared on his face and he swore right then and there that, if he ever had children, he would teach them to call him mister. How cute.

            Then his mind flashed back to Mimi, and he lifted his head up towards his apartment.

            "Mimi…I'm sorry."

            "Oh, heh heh heh heh, what's this? A new prisoner, I presume."

            Sora watched with dull eyes as the blue creature walked off towards a pile of snow. After spending a reasonable amount of time with the thing, she had finally drawn a conclusion about his looks: he looked like something off of Dragon Ball Z. Maybe one of the enemies or something. She heard him giggle with delight as he dug in the snow, flicking it up like a dog. 

            "Oh! Not one, but two! Kahandro lucky today, yes he is." 

            His shriek shook Sora out of her deranged state, and as he scuttled away on all fours, she was brought completely into an alert state. 

            "He's here! Oh, the great dragon caller is here!"

            Sora struggled against her chains, trying desperately to get a good look at this so called "dragon caller". She had heard the blue creature go on and on about a dragon, but his confusing talk plus her horrible state had made her only understand snatches of his talk. 

            "Stupid Dragon Ball Z thing! Get out of my way!"

            Finally, the creature moved aside so Sora had a clear view. A small mound of snow next to the larger one shifted, and a familiar backside appeared. Sora's heart sank.


	6. Part Six

Annihilation

**Part Six**

  


            I really hope you have been enjoying the series so far ^.^. I've been putting a lot of time and effort into it. My blood, sweat, and tears have been put into this story, so I hope you like it! Also a note on my previous parts and this part: My first two parts were _really _bad. I mean _really _bad. Third was okay. But this one is the best! ^.^ Hope you like! ****

*****winks* okay, I luv you, ba-bye.

  


Matt.

            Matt was the dragon caller. Matt wouldn't help her in the dream because he wasn't supposed to. Kahandro was to freeze them and Matt was to…Sora gulped. Burn them.

            Her eyes grew wide and instinctively she pulled against the chains as he rose. Snow fell off of his hair and his khaki pants unwrinkled when he stood up. Slowly, very slowly, he opened his dark blue eyes, as if he had been given a new life, a new meaning.  

            "Matt…" it came out barely a whisper, but she was sure he had heard it, since he looked straight at her. She didn't dare avert her eyes. She was paralyzed on the spot, staring into those dark blue eyes. They hypnotized her. They pierced her very soul as if they could see into her mind and heart. Sora heard herself whisper another name, the name of a person who couldn't help her right now. 

            Matt's eyes flickered over to Tai, imprisoned in his cage of ice, and he stopped breathing. His breath drew in sharply, as if he knew what his duty was, what he was to do. His feet shuffled slowly towards Tai. Kahandro crawled out of his way, crawling closer to Sora. 

            All movement ceased suddenly when the small mound of snow shifted. Matt's head snapped towards it's direction, his cold eyes analyzing it. A moan sounded from it, then a high-pitched squeal. 

            "Hey! That's my hair!"

            "Ow! Stop that! Hey!"

            Mimi shoved Izzy off of her disdainfully. "What are you trying to do, you perv?" Her hands shot up to hold herself. "Gees it's cold…"

            The other figure rose, brushing the snow off of himself. "Well maybe if you didn't wear such skimpy outfits you wouldn't be so cold."

            "Lay off the clothes, computer geek."

            "Maybe you should lay off of the colors. Dying your hair multiple times causes it to fall out."

            Mimi grabbed her brown hair, fear in her eyes. "Oh it will! Oh, my poor beautiful hair!"

            She missed Izzy roll his eyes as she started inspecting every strand of her hair. Sora looked back and forth between the duo, wondering when they would realize what was going on. 

            Mimi shot Izzy a nasty look. "You lie! My hair is perfectly fine." She adjusted herself so that she was sitting on her knees. "Of all the people in the world, Izzy, I would at least expect _you _to not tease a girl about her hair. It's morally wrong."

            Izzy gave her the "ewmp" eyes, packing a snowball tight as he did. He looked up suddenly at the group of people staring at him (well, two people plus a thing). Matt was giving him an evil eye, inspecting him closely as he continued walking towards the frozen Tai. Sora stared blankly at him, practically being held up by chains. And a blue creature (which looked remarkably like something off of Dragon Ball Z) was gawking at Mimi.

            "Uh…what's…uh…"

            Matt stopped. This was his chance. Tai would be gone forever if he did this. No more Tai. No more soccer star leader to look down upon him. A heart-piercing shriek sliced through his thoughts. 

            "TAI!!!" 

            The high-pitched sound of Mimi's scream made them all cringe, and they gritted their teeth together when she started wailing. 

            Kahandro looked impatiently at Matt, hands upon ears. 

            "Would you get on with it?!"

            A blank was drawn up in Matt's mind. "Duh…wha-" His eyes suddenly glazed over and he strode backwards away from Tai. The words spilled out of his mouth unyielding, with an apathetic tone to them.

"Thus the lies and sorrows ended,

            Upon one mighty roar,

            The caller of the dragon,

            Will finally get his score. 

            "With fire blazing and eyes glazing,

            Death took its toll.

            For every secret there is a lie,

            And in every secret another secret lies." 

            Silence. The words had been spoken and not a single person drew in a breath. All were waiting. They stood watching Matt with a silent respect and at the same time they feared him. They feared that his unmoving posture would snap, like his disposition had many times before. The dragon would come out, they were all sure, but out of where not even Kahandro knew. 

            The Earth shuddered violently and the seemingly never-ending tundra they were on shifted noticeably. But it was so far away. Sora was forced to squint to see the ripples in the snow; strain her ears to hear the odd pulsating sounds. Then the sounds got louder and Sora suddenly became aware of how hard everyone was breathing. She herself was literally panting. She heard herself whisper the chorus to a lullaby: "Cherry Blossoms". 

"Drift, Drift,

            The world never ends.

            Drift, Drift,

            Never ever bends." 

She gulped. Snow about twenty feet away was being thrown up off of the ground. She whispered the last words of the song in a very quiet and melancholy voice: 

"Sakura…Sakura. Sa-ku-ra."

Silence. The mounds of snow that had been disturbed settled down into former positions, and the noise died down to barely a whisper. Sora could hear her heart pounding against her ears. The only word that could even begin to form itself in her mind was death, a cold and depressing word to think of at a time like this. 

Matt's arms rose with a slow power, capturing everyone's thoughts. His lips moved but the words he whispered could not be heard at the distance. Then his arms descended swiftly and the noise started up again, faster with a heart-racing rhythm. 

The very earth they stood on shook in time with the strong beat. Sora's chains rattled, Izzy grabbed hold of Mimi's arm, steadying her, and Kahandro clung on grimly to Sora's leg.

 The sun gave a brilliant flash of blue light, engulfing them all in the sweet-scented beam. The ray of magnificent sunlight then imploded, straight through Matt's midsection. A stray tear rolled down Sora's profile. _Matt…_

Not a trace of him was left. Neither one strand of blond hair nor shred of clothing was spared. Matt was gone. Within that short time period, a rebellious young teenager lost his life.  

Then all of them found out what the dragon really was and where it had originated. 

Tai's imprisonment of ice melted away slowly as a great wave of heat struck. 

Sora stood hypnotized by the brilliant light, forgetting to close her eyes against the flash. 

Mimi grabbed Izzy's shirt and pulled him closer, shielding herself from the blast. 

The dragon was not really alive physically; it was alive in Matt's heart and soul.  

Kari passed her cat Meko a look. 

"I'm not gonna feed you unless you feed me first." 

The plump cat gave her an awkward look, cocking its head to one side. The animal batted at its water bowl playfully. 

"Meko…stop that you stupid cat. Hey! Meko! Look what you've done! You've gotten water all over the floor!" she dragged herself off of the couch and towards the spilled water. "Mom's gonna blame me for this…huh?"

She stopped in the process of leaning over. Meko bristled fiercely, spitting on the already sodden carpet. "Uh…Tai? Is that you?"

Kari rose slowly, fear clutching her heart. Being all alone in her apartment didn't scare her…but hearing things? "I must be going crazy…" Meko kept on spitting.

            _But then why is the cat sensing this too?…_

            A loud 'thunk' sounded from her bedroom. Kari glanced sideways at the closed door. _No one is home, no one is home…I can't believe this is happening to me. Call 911 Kari; get a hold of yourself. _

            She lifted her foot carefully towards the phone. Step by painstakingly slow step she advanced on the phone. After what seemed hours, the smooth cordless was in her hand. She flipped it over and brought her hand up to the nine. 

            Another hand closed over Kari's; a big, strong hand.

            The phone dropped to the floor.  

A painful throb awakened Tai. It coursed up and down through his veins, prickly and uncomfortable all the way. Even under the protection of his eyelids, Tai saw the flash of light. It caused dots of purple and red to explode in his "vision" *he can't really see since he has his eyes closed. Duh…*. Nothing seemed clear to him. Any past or present seemed blurry.

A muted scream struck the air to the left of him. Sora. 

He struggled to open his eyes, but they were practically frozen shut. The light he could see faded slowly, as did the ice on his eyelashes. 

Finally, he managed to regain his sight. The scene before him made him wish that he hadn't opened his eyes.

The explosion had finally died down to a faint glow, retreating from its destruction. All the snow had been melted away, exposing brown, dead earth. And on the horizon, the sun sank lower, and lower. 

Tai forced himself to look sideways, dreading what awaited his sight but refusing to accept it until he saw it. With one glance, he forced himself to turn away. 

Everyone was dead. 

Or at least, that's what it seemed like…

A quiet whimper passed Sora's lips. She couldn't see. She had been so totally absorbed in the events that she had forgotten to look away.

She was sitting on the dry ground with her knees tucked under herself. The ice wall that her chains had been so crudely attached to was gone, but her shackles were still there. A horrid stench filled her nostrils, much like that of Kahandro's unique scent. She moved her hand out towards blackness, seeking for something to comfort her. Her hand bumped up against something wet. Then she realized what the scent was. It was Kahandro, with his flesh burnt off.

            Sora threw up on her lap. The stench and the mental picture were too much for her. She had to get away. To the left of her was some flat lands (although she now had no idea what the scenery looked like) and to the right…Tai. 

She got into a crawling position and headed in the direction that she was hoping led to Tai. Her seeking hand hit Kahandro's carcass again. She shuddered and tried to stop herself from regurgitating. Unfortunately, she failed. 

Sora sat down and hugged herself. _Nasty sick thing…how did I get pulled into this? _Then she felt a sudden sorrow engulf her heart. Not for herself, but for Kahandro. He lived out here all alone, and then when someone comes, they make fun of him. Sora swallowed, hard. _He's probably the reason why my flesh wasn't burnt off…he stood in front of my body and he took the blast…_

Mimi Tachikawa listened to the silence around her. Too afraid to open her eyes, Mimi strained her ears for a sign of life. Nothing…

She opened her eyes slowly, gagging at a rancid smell. _What is that?…_

Mimi opened up her eyes fully, only to close them again. The arms around her…they were too tight…and immobile. She shoved hard, hearing the arms of the deceased Izzy snap off.

Mimi stared down at the crispy form of Izzy and the first words out of her mouth were…

"Ew…gross! He's fried to a crisp!" she then proceeded to look over herself, straightening clothes here and there. 

Satisfied that she herself hadn't been burnt, Mimi looked towards the place where Sora and Tai had been located. She let out a little gasp. 

"Oh! Why is Sora …ewwwww!! She threw up! … Is Tai crying??"

She squinted harder, seeing a definite twinkle slide down Tai's face.  

"Well, that's a first."

But Tai couldn't help himself. In his mind, he was alone. He had never truly been alone; now, out in this desert-like place, with his friends presumably dead, he was alone. No way of knowing where he was or what to do. 

In times that he needed it the most, his courage left him, fleeing to the corners of his mind and self-conscious. Now that his adventures in the digital world were over, it seemed that his crest had taken with it his courage. So he was not just crying because he thought his friends were dead, it was also because he didn't know how to react to the situation. Whether to search or to sit was beyond him, so he obeyed his first reaction. To cry. 

But Tai refused to sob. There was a difference in crying and sobbing. Sobbing was uncontrollable, and, to Tai, unforgivable. So when he heard a sob, he knew that his assumption had been wrong. Someone was alive…


	7. Part Seven

**Annihilation**

**Part Seven**

"Mister, Hikari loves you. Did you hear me mister? Hikari loves you."

"I know, but thanks, kid. Tell her that she had her chance. That whole time when I waited on her hand and foot is over. She can go get a new – what? You lied?" Davis' face burned with color. "Oshitiotama! Go back to your mother and get her to smack some sense into you."

The little boy giggled and walked off, fading away in Davis' dreamland. 

Davis looked down at his hands and smiled. A miniature doll of a girl was there, wearing a puffy dress with matching shoes to go with it. A pain in his leg throbbed suddenly, knocking him off balance. He waved his arms around, dropping the doll, and he fell over, onto his hard, wooden floor. 

"Ouch…"

He looked around, dazed. "Uh…wha-"

Jun burst into his room, slamming the door into the wall behind it. 

"DAVIS!! Get out here right now! There's something on the news that you should see."

Davis fumbled to his feet, still not fully awake. "What?" His mind was still swarming with questions from the dream like: why did he call the little boy a "butt-head"?

Jun pulled him by the arm to a position in front of the television.

"Listen!"

_-I repeat, officials have just announced the disappearance of six children. Among those six are: Taichi Yagami, Yamato Ishida, Sora Takenouchi, Mimi Tachikawa, Koushiro Izumi, and Hikari Yagami. And yes, Taichi and Hikari are related. Brother and sister in fact. If you have any information, please contact the number at the bottom of your screen. _The announcer paused briefly. _Mimi Tachikawa was here visiting her friends in Odaiba. Please, any information at all would help. _

Davis stared at the screen blankly, not seeing it or the 1-800 number at the bottom. Should he call? He had seen Mimi with his own eyes in the whirlwind. He even faintly remembered searching for her. But what about all the others? Where were they? He blinked, noticing how clear his vision became. 

His sister gave him an odd look. "Do you know anything? I mean, you do know that girl Hikari, right? Davis? Are you all right?" 

He shook his head slowly and turned back towards his bedroom. He needed to think alone. But to think he needed to be fully rested…

Courage. Courage is needed here. Tai sighed as he looked around himself. Sora and Mimi were alive, even though he didn't know when Mimi had gotten there. But he was positive it was Mimi. No one else would wear that ridicules outfit. It looked like scraps of clothing…

The scenery around had changed drastically, with little or no grass peeking up from the dead earth. And it was certainly warmer. But what had happened? 

He stared hard at one of the two carcasses on the ground. Some sort of nuclear weapon? But who had ever heard of it changing the climate? 

His eyes shifted to Sora. She looked so pathetic as she sat there crying. He remembered the last thing he had thought of, before Kahandro had frozen him. Soul mates seemed so stupid right now. He had just wanted that to be his last thought. Like in a movie how the last line is always perfect and touching. That's what he wanted his life to be like: a movie. No pain at all. And if pain was included, it was all acting. No one ever really got hurt.

And crying. How did they pull it off? He could never cry because a cue card said so. 

Tai experimentally raised his hand. A pain shot up his wrist. His blood was still trying to circulate. He looked back over at Sora and decided to try calling her. 

"Sora! Hey!"

Her head lifted slowly, as if not believing that someone could still speak. It seemed morally wrong to yell out after such a painful silence. 

Mimi was also shocked. She stared at Tai as if he had yelled out during a sermon at church. 

"Uh…Tai? Is that…you?" Sora left her eyelids closed, knowing it would be useless to open them. 

"Yeah. What happened? Are you hurt?"

Sora started sobbing once again, hiding her face in her hands. 

"Oh Taichi-san! It was horrible! Matt…he's…he's…"

"Dead." Mimi finished her sentence solemnly. She walked over to Sora, her footsteps surprisingly light after such a dark statement. "And so is Izzy."

Tai studied Mimi's face. She understood better than all of them what had just happened. The sureness in her voice and her change of attitude assured him of that. 

"Mimi, could you explain to me what happened. If it's not too hard of course…"

Tachikawa smiled and placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. 

"Something happened that could never be taken back. And, Tai? Do you know where we are?"

Tai shook his head. "Looks like we'll have to live off of the land until someone finds us."

"Not a whole lot of land to live off of…" Mimi sat down beside Sora and put her arm around her. She started whispering encouraging things.

Tai flexed his arm somewhat. "You didn't explain fully what went on, Mi-"

"YOU DON'T EVEN FEEL BAD?!!" 

Two pairs of eyes went to Sora.

"YOU – YOU DON'T CARE?! MATT AND IZZY ARE DEAD AND YOU DON'T EVEN GIVE IT A THOUGHT!"

"Uh, I'm sorry. I'll try to be a little more compassionate. Besides Sora, if they're dead, then they're dead; but do you want to die as well?"

Sora lowered her head and shook it.

"I didn't think so. Now stop crying about what was lost and think about what we have."

"I can't see."

"What?"

"I can't see."

Tai pushed himself off of the ground with a cringe and walked towards her.

"What do you mean? You can't see literally, or you can't see why?"

"I can't see. Everything is black."

He kneeled down beside her and tried to find her eyes.

"Look at me."

She looked at him, opening her eyes a sliver. 

"You don't see any colors at all? What about now?" He waved a hand in front of her face.

"No. It hurts, too."

Tai dropped his hand in exasperation. "What happened?"

Mimi sniffed and looked towards Izzy (or what was left of him). "I'm sorry, Tai. I just can't tell you. It's too hard."

So, Sora, the one least likely to explain the situation without crying, got through her side of the story without a tear. Including the part of Kahandro's carcass. 

Tai looked towards it, somewhat happy that Sora couldn't see it. 

The once bright blue body was a wet black, with little bits of red showing where blood had escaped arteries. Whether it was the face or the bottom of Kahandro he was looking at, Tai couldn't tell. But for some reason, he didn't feel like looking at Izzy's body.

"Was anyone else here?"

Mimi shook her head. "Just Izzy, Matt and I showed up. Wow. And to think that I'm the only one left alive. Don't you think that God should've chosen Izzy to live instead?"

Tai sighed and looked away. "God works in mysterious ways…" he mumbled.

Sora stood up, her knees shaking awkwardly. Tai rushed to hold her.

"Look, you shouldn't be walking around. It's probably best if you stay in one spot and try to regain your eyesight."

"What if it doesn't come back?"

"Then," Tai looked towards Mimi, "it will come back. I'm sure of it."

She laughed a little. "You lie…you have no clue at all."

"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on T.V."

T.K. ran full speed towards the school. He mumbled stuff about being late all the time as he sprinted through the doors just as the bell was ringing. He raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time. 

"Why does Spring Break always end on a Tuesday?"

He skidded to a stop at his locker, throwing his backpack to the ground.

"Come on, come on…Mr. Hakamichi's gonna be pissed…"

He slammed the locker door closed and ran down to the end of the hall…right into his instructor, Mr. Hakamichi.

"Uh…uh…"

"Well, mister Takashi is late again. What a coincident. Mister Motomiya is also." His instructor's eye twitched with scrutiny. "Could this be by accident?"

"No…I don't know where Davis is."

"You weren't supposed to answer that…"

"Oh. Well, uh, ohio gazimus and all that good stuff…see you in class."

He stepped through the classroom door, and walked to his desk with his chin held high.

_Where could Davis be? He has a big soccer game today…maybe he's out practicing? No. It doesn't make sense that he would skip school just for practice. Is something happening that I missed?_

T.K. dug in his pockets (lets just say he has really big pockets, 'k?) and pulled out the D3. He flipped it open and clicked on the icon that read 'messages'.

Nothing.

He looked around at the kids next to him. They were all staring at him.

"Uh…heh heh. Ohio!"

They mumbled the greeting back, giving him funny looks. 

He sweatdropped and put the device back.

Obviously he had been left out once again. He bitterly opened his notebook, wondering what Kari and Davis had talked about that one day before.

Yolie stopped and stared at Ken.

"You, you're back already?"

"Well, yes. I said the visit would end before school started."

Yolei blushed deeply. "Oh, well, I thought that you meant before school started as in…next year."

"That's okay. Everyone makes mistakes. I mean, look at me for example. That whole Digimon Emperor thing is (blah blah blah blah blah) *wordsfade into Yolei's thoughts*

_I wonder why he's always talking about this. You'd think that he'd want to forget about it. I haven't seen Davis today. Wonder where he's at…probably out playing hooky with his new girlfriend Kari…I can't believe that Kari actually kissed him! Well, I can't believe that I was eavesdropping as well…I bet Cody would never do that. Great, now I feel guilty. Hm, I haven't seen Kari eit-_

"…so now you understand why you shouldn't feel bad, right? Right? Yolei?"

"Hm? Oh! Yeah, thanks for clearing that up. It's amazing how you talk about that stuff so easily. I mean, I would never talk about the horrible mistakes that I made, because, well, just because! Like this one time…*fades into Ken's thoughts*

_Well that was pretty contradictory. Shouldn't I be getting to school? Maybe I'll pass Kari along the way…I hope so. She's so…wonderful and interesting. Definitely the opposite of what's standing in front of me. How did she get purple hair? I have that big game with Davis playing today. I bet Kari will be there cheering on Davis. Oh…but Yolei will probably be there too._

He groaned out loud by accident.

"…and then – did you say something?"

"Uh, no. But shouldn't we be getting to school?"

Yolei gasped. "Oh! You're right! Well, o na na!"

"Um, sayonara."

(Yolei's Thoughts) _What a bore. I bet he wasn't even listening to what I was talking about! I hate people like him! He would be the worst husband in the world!_

(Ken's Thoughts) _I can't believe her! There are things more important than just talking! She's going to make me late for class! She would be the worst wife in the world!_

Tai stepped out onto the burnt soil. Too many things had happened without him knowing. He cursed silently, looking back at Sora and Mimi. 

They were watching him.

They were waiting for him to do something, to encourage them. He looked at the moon and wondered if they were on Earth at all. If they were in the digital world then they would have already seen some digimon. A pain rain up his legs. Mimi…Sora…they couldn't do anything to protect themselves. If he wanted to…no. He needed to protect them, not hurt them. 

He took another step forward, crushing a dead stem. The crunch traveled up to his ears and a word formed in his mind. Food. How were they going to get food? And where? 

Shelter. Water. All the things for basic survival were not present. The only thing out here was dirt and some more dirt. _You can think of something Tai…you have to. If Izzy were here…_

But Izzy wasn't there. He was dead. Just like Matt. Just like Tai's courage. 

Wind ran through his hair, but it wasn't a refreshing wind. It was a wind that carried death and a sense of defeat. 

"I can't do this anymore…"

Tai looked at the stars; they were shining too bright for the occasion. His gaze fell once more and his eyes sparkled. _I need someone to lean on, too…_

"What do you think is wrong with Tai, Sora?"

"What do you mean? What's happening?"

"It looks like he's crying."

"Oh…well," Sora let her head fall, "maybe this is all too much for him."

"But we're all going through the same thing."

"Well, I guess he feels like he needs to protect us. Don't you feel that way? Mimi?"

Mimi didn't respond. Instead, she got up and walked towards Tai. His somewhat hunched back was facing her, and his feet were unmoving. 

"Tai? Is something wrong?" she continued to walk towards him.

His back straightened up immediately. "Uh, no. Why?"

Mimi stopped by his side and looked at his face. "You just seemed so distant."

"Oh!" Tai forced himself to laugh. "Nothing is wrong! I was just thinking. That's all."

"Oh…if you say so…"

He watched her walk back to Sora, the glisten in his eyes coming back.

_Why can't I tell them my true feelings?_

Alone and weak, a small digimon crept towards Tai. Its tail was down and its mouth open.

Tai turned back around.

"Tokomon?"

"Kari's missing?! What…why…"

"I just heard what was on the news, okay?"

Yolei stood with her mouth agape looking at Davis. T.K. was pacing around now, trying to clear his mind. 

"I don't get it! Who would abduct Kari…and why!"

"Look, the same goes for Tai, Sora, Matt, Mimi, and Izzy. I even saw Mimi being, um…abducted I guess you would call it."

"Really? What happened?"

"Cody, it's kinda hard to explain."

"Just try your best."

"Okay. Mimi came into my apartment while no one was home except me. We had, ah, a little fight, and then she went out the door. Well, I heard her scream so I ran out there. And when I got out there…um, some sort of whirlwind was happening and Mimi was inside of it.

"I tried to help her, really. But I got thrown off of the veranda. Then this little brat comes up to me and he's like: are you okay mister? And I'm like-"

Yolei tapped her foot impatiently. "We get the point."

"Oh, yeah. Okay, when I got back up to my apartment, she was gone. Just like that. I searched for her and everything. But she had just disappeared."

Ken looked around the computer room, studying each person's face. They all were deep in thought, but to him there was really nothing to think about. 

"Davis, name the people who are missing again."

"Um…Kari, Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, and Mimi."

"Now which one of those stands out to you?"

"Um…"

Cody smiled. "Kari."

"Exactly. I think that the older digidestined were abducted to go to the same place, but Kari on the other hand-"

"Was just abducted."

"Right, Cody. But now we have two cases to figure out."

"Who abducted Kari and who abducted the older digidestined."

"But what about Jou?"

"Maybe he's the one who abducted them all." Davis snickered at his own remark. Yolei passed him a glare.

"That's not what I meant." 

"I don't know about Jou. It could be that he's the abductor. I mean, he couldn't possible get rid of all the older kids, but he could definitely hold Kari down if he wanted to."

"No way. My Kari's way to good for that."

"We're just looking at all the possibilities here."

"Maybe Kari went back to the Dark Ocean where I found her."

Ken shuddered. "Don't mention that name. Besides, I think Kari has been over that stage for a long time now."

"I say we give Jou a call."

Cody walked meaningfully over to the phone.

"Call his cell, Cody. You'd have a better chance of reaching him."

They watched as Cody picked up the phone and started pressing some numbers.

Ken turned back to Davis. "Did anyone else see the whirlwind?"

"Uh, no. But there was no one else around."

"Did the news mention anything about it?"

"No."

"Then…"

Yolei cut him off shortly. "Then that means that people didn't see the whirlwind, which was probably what happened to Matt, Tai, Sora, and Izzy to make them disappear, which means that the whirlwind took them to the digital world!"

She sat back, and, panting, folded her arms across her chest. "Well?"

"You're…assuming quite a bit there…"

"He has his cell phone off."

Everyone ignored Cody for the time being. 

"Do you think it could be true?"

"I for one think we should check the digital world for the older kids."

"But Davis, what about Kari?"

"Well…how 'bout we split up into two groups? Both of the groups will need a brainiac so Cody and Ken will be split up. Is everyone okay with that?"

Ken nodded, and the others followed his example. Davis stood up and a ring of determination was in his voice.

"All right, it's settled! T.K, Yolei, and Cody will go to the digital world, and Ken and I will search here for Kari."

"Hey! I said Jou has his cell phone off!"

"Uh…okay…and Ken and I will also search for Jou. Agreed?"

Four heads nodded in unison.

Davis walked alongside of Ken, swinging his arms. He hummed a little ditty, sometimes mumbling the words 'ko-i-shi-ta-ru!' (Translation: 'I'm in love'). Ken looked straight ahead, his eyebrow twitching with annoyance. Finally he snapped.

"DAVIS WILL YOU SHUT UP!"

The headstrong leader backed down, cutting his noise level down by half.

They continued walking, Davis dragging his feet in the back.

"Uh, hey, where are we going?"

Ken stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean: Where…are…we…going?" He said it like Captain Kirk off of Star Track, enunciating with his hands as well as his voice. 

Ken paused. "Uh…I…I don't know."

"Riiiiggghhttt…well, I'm gonna go find Jou then…"

"Oh yeah! That's where we were going! To Jou's school!"

"Um…and where would Jou's school be, Mr. Brainiac?"

"I…I don't know."

Davis threw his hands up. "GREAT! JUST GREAT! It's only the first hour…_hour_, and we're already lost! You're the genius here! GET US TO JOU'S SCHOOL! OR HIS HOUSE! IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE, JUST AS LONG AS WE GET THERE!!"  

"WELL YOU'RE THE LEADER! WHY DON'T YOU LEAD!!?"

Davis opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing. They stood staring each other down, their fists clenched tight. 

Finally Davis relaxed his hand and sighed. 

"You're right. I'm the leader. I should be the one to lead."

Ken dropped his arms and smiled. "You're absolutely right."

Davis gave him a look.

"So…lead on."

"Yeah, I think I will."

"Tokomon? Oh my God. A- Tokomon…"

The tiny digimon sat on its "haunches" and let its tongue loll out.

Tai squatted beside it, reaching a hand out. "Hey, are you o- AHHHHHgaghha…"

He pulled his hand back and covered it with his left hand.

"You…stupid little…"

"Tai? Are you okay? What are you screaming about?"

Tai lifted his hand and acknowledged the blood running down his right hand. It completely covered it.

The Tokomon ran its tongue over the red blood on its fangs, a strange smile on the digimon's face appearing. 

Tai mouthed the word 'bitch' at it, holding tightly onto his injured hand.

Mimi ran up, leading Sora by the hand.

"What the? Tokomon?"

Her eyes fell upon Tai's hand and she fainted almost instantly. Sora let go of her hand and stared blankly ahead.

"Tai? I think my vision is coming back."

Tai had his hand in a vice-like grip and he was gritting his teeth. The blood was running down his arm and he could care less about Sora's problems or accomplishments at the moment. 

"Oh! I see some light! I see some light! This is great! My vision is coming back! I know it is!"

Sora blinked several times. There was an irreplaceable smile on her face that even Tai with his injured hand had to look upon it and also smile. Then her smile faded and she closed her eyes slowly.

"Never mind. The light is gone now."

She sat down hard and put her head in her hands.

Tai heard an explosion to the left of him. He closed his eyes tightly when the mushroom cloud ripped through the sky, sending off a blinding ray of light. The Tokomon beside him streaked off towards some unknown safe haven where it would never be seen again and Tai was once again left alone. Sora grabbed her skirt and pulled it down when the wind reached them. Several words ran through Tai's mind as he sat there with an explosion to the left of him, but only a few did he ever remember thinking of. War. Radiation. Death.

Nuclear War Heads lead to radiation, and radiation leads to death. But there was no way that Tai could be sure there was any sort of war going on. Maybe the dragon wasn't finished yet. Maybe it came back every now and then…

Sora let out a scream that was carried off by the wind. Mimi was still unconscious. Tai turned his head to look at the two and right then he realized that being a leader never left, but the skill got rusty at times. 

He held his hand up to cover his face. _They need me now…_

"Are you guys ready?"

Yolei and Cody nodded together, their digivices held at arm's length.

"Okay then…" T.K. swallowed slowly. "Okay…"

He wasn't ready though. He didn't know what to expect. He wanted to think that this was all a prank made up by Davis that the others just happened to follow along with, but he knew that couldn't be true. Then again he might find all the older kids, including his brother, waiting for him at the digital world. 

With a shaky hand he raised his digivice. He was sure about one thing though. He didn't want to go to the digital world. A lump in his stomach had told him so.  


	8. Part Eight

Annihilation

Part Eight

  


            _Ya know, I was looking for Odaiba on a map of Japan and for some strange reason I couldn't find it. Could it be that that Odaiba doesn't exist? Or is it that I'm not spelling the name right? Maybe I should put it that they all moved to Nagano… Well, anyways, enjoy! Ja ne!_

  


Kari had moved her hands around in the handcuffs until the skin on her wrists had gone raw. Her mouth was gagged with a foul tasting cloth and she been blindfolded as well. She hadn't gotten the chance to see her kidnappers but whenever she heard them breathing or a muffled talk she held a photo in her mind. They looked like someone Kari had known personally in her dreams, but as dreams are usually after a point of awakening, the picture seemed blurry and far off. 

            Now the truck bumped and rattled on some sort of country road and a hand grabbed her arm to steady her. Kari let out a frightened whimper.

            The picture came back again, but Kari didn't know whom it was. She could see clearly the brown hair but everything else was blurry. The hand let go and the picture faded. 

            A mechanical voice clicked on the other end of the line.

"I'm sorry, the number you reached is not available right now. If you would like to try again, please press one. If you would like to leave a mess-"

Davis slammed the pay phone onto its receiver.

"That is the last time I waste my money on Jou! You're up."

Ken shook his head sadly.

"Just because you called ten straight times in a row doesn't mean he's going to answer."

"Fine. Enough time dealing with Jou, let's try to find Kari."

"Where do you propose we search first?"

"At her apartment of course."

Rolling his eyes, Ken followed the exuberant Davis down the road. "Do you even know where we are?"

"Uh…" Davis turned around slowly. "Not…really."

Ken fell down dramatically.

"But hey! We can take the subway! Fastest way to travel and easy!"

Hours later… 

"Uh…okay. If we take the train to North Odaiba, then we could get on a track to North West Odaiba, and then from there we could either catch a cab or we could start walking. See! Easy as that!"

Ken pushed him over roughly, staring at the underground map hard.

"There's no way we walked that far! We can't be in Southern Odaiba! It's impossible!"

Davis got up off of the ground, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey, if that's what the map says then I'm willing to believe it."

"Whatever. Let's hurry up because the next train to North Odaiba is leaving-" Ken gasped and looked at his watch, "ONE MINUTE! Hurry Davis! Get the tickets!"

"But I don't have enough money!"

Ken shoved him towards the ticket booth and took money out of his pocket.

"Here, use this!"

They both froze as the sound of a train passed them.

Note: Please reread the last time with Tai, Mimi, and Sora in the previous part. It helps with the understanding of what is happening here. Arigato. Oh, and yes, I was a little disturbed in this certain part. ^.^

****

_…if I think that my courage is gone, then it will be gone. But if I just trust in myself…_

The explosion died down in the distance, but a white wave rushed towards them. ****

*This "white wave" is the effect of a nuclear weapon. It is formally known as a "blast wave" and it moves away from the main fireball at a supersonic speed. It can demolish buildings over large areas.*

Tai didn't even get a chance to blink before he was dead.

"Here we go. You guys are positive you want to go to the digital world? I mean, we could just forget Davis and go do our own thing."

Yolei dropped her arm and gave T.K. a funny look. "What are you talking about?"

"It's just that…I'm getting a bad feeling…"

"Well, sorry. I didn't know that you were in tune with spirits and everything." Yolei crossed her arms over her chest and squinted one eye at him

"I just…don't want to go."

"Well than don't go. Cody and I will be fine without you."

"But…Matt might be there."

"And?"

"And I need to talk to him."

"Tell you what. If we find Matt - which I'm sure we will - we'll bring him back so _then_ you can talk to him. Okay?"

T.K. looked long and hard at her.

"O…"

"Good! Let's get going Cody! Digiport open!"

T.K. stopped, open-mouthed, staring at nothing, wondering if he had done the right thing. 

  
This is getting really hard to write…I'm running out of characters!! *cries*   


Davis kicked a can non-too gently. It slammed against the wall where Ken had his back.

"Watch it," his friend mumbled, clutching the bus ticket.

"Well I'm getting bored and my mother is probably wondering about me."

Ken opened one eye and looked at Davis. He was standing there with arms over chest, studying the dented can. Davis flicked the can with a light kick and it landed in Ken's lap. 

"Look, that doesn't give you the right to kick cans at friends."

Davis sneered. "But I didn't kick a can at a friend."

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"Uh…no…"

They both stopped to look up at an overhanging light fixture. The light flickered some more until finally it turned on completely.

Davis groaned. "Ah great. Now I know it's late."

"Our train should be getting here any minute now."

"What time is it?"

"Almost eight."

"Almost eight?!" A light rumbling sound emitted from Davis' stomach. He blushed faintly and forced a laugh.

"Say, Ken, do you think that they have vending machines here?"

"Probably." Ken leaned back and closed his eyes again.

An intercom buzzed overhead.

"Attention. All people boarding for North Odaiba, your train is here. All people boarding for North Odaiba, your train is here."

The device clicked and some people walked past the two boys.

"Come on Ken, I don't want to be here all night."

Ken stood up slowly and brushed off the back of his pants. "Finally."

  


_Okay, this is getting **really** hard to write. Help me! I'm thinking of doing a 'lost part'. It'd be great. I could include all the things I wanted to do in my story but didn't do. It would probably be rated x or something, but hey…I'm just kidding; I wouldn't make it **that** nasty. But any who…on with the extremely hard to write story. *sighs* _

The vehicle stopped moving and a series of door slamming occurred. A hand grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her backwards. The image occurred again, a little bit clearer this time.

Someone started talking in a deep voice, and onto her mental image a beard was added. Not a long beard, but a beard that was scratchy and short, like it had just grown over the previous days. 

Kari was lifted by her arms from the vehicle, and placed on a rough, gravel type ground. 

She had lost three of her senses; taste, sight, and smell, but she still had two other useful senses; touch and hearing. She used them at all possible times, straining her ears for familiar sounds, and acknowledging the roughness of the hands upon her. Her mental eye could lead her wrong, and Kari knew that, so she tried to rely on the two senses she had.  

"Where do we put 'er?"

There was a mumbled response that Kari could not hear. 

She tried to swallow the fear present in her mouth but the foul-tasting feeling stuck. The hand grabbed her again, but this time by the waist. She was swung upwards and onto a broad shoulder. 

Kari closed her eyes tighter and told herself that there was nothing she could do.

~

Tai opened his eyes slowly, and then he heard a shot. Pain was quick, and he closed his eyes again.

~

Taichi awoke in a cold sweat. In his mind's eye he saw Kari and her kidnappers and a great anger swelled up inside of him. He rose to his feet quickly, trying to place his surroundings. 

"Kari?"

The chibi Kari stood in front of him, holding her whistle at arms length. Everything else around Tai disappeared as he stared at the younger version of his sister, with his mouth agape. The Kari giggled and shrugged her shoulders, and in doing so she lifted a great weight from Tai's heart. 

"Kari…" Tai started walking towards her slowly, but every step he took forward she took two back. 

"No Kari! Wait!" 

She faded away, her giggles bouncing off of the "walls" around Tai.

"Hikari…wait."

He closed his eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears from sliding down his cheeks. 

_What am I doing here? How did I get here? Wasn't there something I was doing?…Someone I was with?_

Yolie stepped out onto the dead, brown earth, unbelieving. Everything was gone. There were no trees and very little grass, no digimon in sight or people. She turned around to look at Cody.

"I think," she paused, catching her breath, "that if the older kids had been taken here then they would be dead."

Cody dropped to his knees and inspected a dead plant stump. It was pushed in one direction, right.

"Lets go that way." He indicated with a way of his hand to the right.

"All…right."

They set out towards a barren wasteland of nothingness, unknowingly walking towards a gravesite.

A 'click' sounded from behind Kari and the handcuffs she wore loosened. She pulled at them and felt them slide off, but those rough hands grabbed her arms and the man started whispering in her ear.

"I know what you have, girlie, and I want it. These other people around here don't know nothing about your little gift, but I do. Yes, you better watch yourself, because when they're through with you, I'll be coming for ya." The man ripped off her gag and released her arms. He spoke to her in a normal voice now, so all could hear. "The boss is gonna see you now so you better be corporative, otherwise I'll deal with ye."

Kari shuddered and licked her lips. There was a horrible smell here, more horrible than the cloth that had been around her nose. 

Tai was back in his apartment. There, on the coach he had sat on so many times, was Kari's whistle. The light from the glass door played over it, making it twinkle like a lonely star in the dark room. 

A doorknob clicked.

Suddenly he heard voices from outside the front door. He swallowed a lump rising in his throat and tried to think quickly. He wasn't quick enough.

The door opened and his parents stood looking straight at him. No. They weren't looking at their tattered and bruised son. They were looking past him. They were looking at the whistle.

A silence hung in the air so heavy that Tai felt smothered under it. He continued to stare at his parents, but they didn't seem to see him. All they saw was the whistle, bright and shiny in the dark gloom. It was a painful reminder of their lost daughter and her lost brother. So painful, they couldn't look away.

Davis smiled pleasantly at an old lady next to him, trying hard not to yawn. The two boys were on their second train that would drop them off at north Odaiba and from there they would have to walk the rest of the way home to the northwestern part of town. They had missed their big soccer game and were both dreading the feedback from their teammates. But worst of all, they hadn't accomplished anything in the hours that they had been gone.

"I wonder if T.K. and the others have found anything."

"That loser? He couldn't find a nail if he was sitting on it."

Ken passed Davis a quizzical look but refrained from saying anything. His traveling companion had turned short-tempered in the past hour and Ken was sure that anything could set him off. He tried a different approach to a conversation.

"I heard that the after school computer courses are over next week. We'll be able to visit the digital world more often soon."

Davis grunted.

Ken opened his mouth to talk about V-mon but an intercom beat him to any words.

"Passengers, uh…there's a slight blockade happening in the tunnel," there was a brief pause and then a hurried afterthought, "but please do not panic. By any means do not panic."

The buzz that followed was extremely loud in the dead silent train. 

An irritated look in Davis' eyes was dispersed by a fear look from Ken. Davis shrugged off a heavy weight of uncertainty and tried to smile, but it was an unconvincing smile. 

Kari was held down tightly with ropes. The ground beneath her was cold and separated…like rails. She wiggled her wrists for the hundredth time and prayed to any God that she was not on train tracks. The lack of sight drove her wild and she continuously prayed time and time again that, by some spiritual gift, she would be able to see everything with her mind. But there was only one thing that she continuously saw. Her whistle.

Tai listened to his parents talk from his bedroom. He was crying. He was crying so hard and sobbing so loud into his pillow he was sure that soon he would run out of tears. But one thing was happening that made him cry harder. His pillow wasn't wet. 

"Do you remember when we…when I hit T…Ta…Tai?"

There was silence.

"I couldn't help it. I was just so mad at him."

Once again, silence.

"Do you? Do you remember that?"

"Yes."

"And when Kari…I think that they were hiding something from us."

"I do too."

"What was it?"

**_"EVERYTING! EVERYTHING!" _**Tai screamed.

"I'm not sure."

Tai cried harder until he could hardly breathe.  _Everything…everything, mom. _The digimon, the digital world, the fights, the pain…the losses, the victories, the enemies, the friends…everything that had ever happened to him to change his viewpoint on life, he hadn't told her. _I could of told you, but I was so afraid…_

Tai lifted his head slowly. Suddenly he didn't hear his mother reminiscing. Suddenly his tears stopped and his breath returned. If that was all that he had ever been afraid of…all that had ever haunted him…but it hadn't been. There were other fears. Fears he had never faced. __

_That's why I'm still here, right? I haven't finished what I came here to do._

And suddenly everything was clear to him. The answer was spread out before him like a feast that he had turned his nose up at all these years. 

The only thing that could ever prevent him from achieving his life goal was another person's hatred. 

 T.K. paced around the computer room, talking to himself. 

"Okay. Okay. I can deal with this. This is all some gay prank that Davis thought of and now everyone is watching me on some hidden camera and laughing."

But something deep in his body told him otherwise. That feeling was so sure and too painful to face that T.K. dismissed it time and time again from his thoughts. But it came back. It always came back. 

There were footsteps outside now, making T.K.'s pulse rise. _Why the hell am I alone at a time like this?_

The doorknob started to turn and he heard…voices. In his panic stricken mind T.K. saw Devimon. Devimon was out to finish what he had started, he was sure of it. 

T.K. raised his digivice hurriedly and whispered, "digiport open."

*flahback*

"Kari…Kari?"

A wide grin found Kari's face as she looked up at her brother. "I'm fine, T-T-"

Her head fell heavily to the ground and her eyes closed from a mixture of exhaustion and feverish pain. Then there were bright lights, a sensation of rough linen sheets, and a missing piece of memory. 

"Tai – I'm sorry I couldn't kick the ball back to you…"

She watched from afar as Tai was hit by her mother – _their _mother. Angry words filling a waiting room and…Tai crying. Never before had she seen Tai cry. She wanted to reach out and hold him, but he couldn't be reached. She wanted to tell him not to worry, she would be fine, but he wouldn't listen. That was when she knew.

She was going to die. 

"KARIIII!! Kari where are you?"

_Lost in a desert? No problem_, Tai mused as he walked across a land of nothingness. _Just bring some food and a game with you so you don't lose your mind or your life. _

"Did I mention bring someone else, too? Helps with the 'not losing the mind thing'. Just a little bit."

Tai smiled at the last line. Matt had always said that. _Poor little bugger…if only he were here._

"He'd probably try to kill me again. Just gotta love _that_."

Tai drew in his breath. The nothingness ended abruptly, fading off into some dark place. Too dark to see. 

"Kari?"

He could feel her near. She was somewhere in there. 

"Kari?!"

He had reached the border between light and darkness and now he peered into the foreboding dark. Abruptly his ears picked up two sounds. They were both whistles.

One had a childish ring to it and Tai could picture it in his mind. It was made of silver and it was strung on pink yarn. Kari's whistle. The second was loud and as sinister as the dark it came from. It was a train's whistle.  

"KARI!" 

Without thinking, he jumped from the white into the black.


	9. Part Nine

Annihilation

Part Nine

"Tai! Taichi! Are you in there?"

No, he would never truly be _in_ there. It just wasn't possible.

Not anymore at least. 

"Tai! I need your help with this!"

With what? Besides, he couldn't help anyone anymore. He was dead. 

"Please come help me!"

Who was that? Didn't they see how dead he was? He had seen it for himself when his pillow had been dry after crying, after his parents didn't see him, and after that train had just passed through him…

If he had still been alive, he might have been able to save Kari. But then again, wouldn't he have thought about the consequences? Hadn't that been one of his lowest priorities though? Hadn't it? When? When he was still alive. Why? Because he…he…he didn't remember right now. Tai had the sudden feeling that he would never remember again why he had acted the way he had. Responsibilities?…Everyone relying on him?…Love? 

Love? Love. No, he didn't love anyone back then. He had been too naïve and too busy to love. Love who? He didn't know. And busy with what? The digital world? Maybe, maybe not. 

The thing was, he could not remember. 

But did that matter? Was he supposed to remember? He had never really been a big fan of the whole 'fate' proposition, but now it was his only answer to everything. But it still didn't settle right with his stomach so he decided to think about other things. And the other things were?

The others. Where were they?

A sixth sense whispered something to his mind, something barely audible. 

_They're all almost gone…in fact; most of them are already dead. The ones who remain are going to kick the can soon, too, if you don't help them out. Who? Who was going to die? And who was already dead? The people alive are as follows…T.K., Cody, Yolei, Ken, Davis, and Jou. The rest are gone, and it's all…your…fault. _

What?! It couldn't be all his fault! That didn't make sense, didn't compute. Compute. Computer. Izzy. Izzy was dead. Oh God…it was all his fault. Why hadn't he done something to save them?! He was the leader! They were counting on him to be there for them, to save them when things were rough…to save their lives when the time came…

But what gave him the right to mess around with fate? He stopped. According to the law of fate, it's fate that I should not save them. So everything that has happened to this point was fate. It had to happen so something could present itself to me…

He grabbed his head. Ouch, this hurt. 

And just where was he? 

He opened his eyes slowly, not aware they had been closed in the first place. His eyes widened.

"Oh Jesus!"

He was in the air, just floating there. Below him he could see a city, some city, stretched out for miles on end until it touched the horizon and disappeared. There was a tall building right next to him, one that he could reach out and touch just barely with his fingertips. It looked familiar in some exotic way…wait! Wasn't this the Television Station for Odaiba? 

Tai moved his leg experimentally and was surprised feel something under him. It was like a sidewalk, but invisible and in the air. So…was this flying? No, this was levitation. 

He laughed. All of his mortal life he had heard people talk about how they wanted so much to fly with the birds, how they wanted to just sit in the sky and sing…He had never been one of those people. He knew that he wasn't a bird and that was that. Oh darn, I don't have wings, but God gave me this body so this is what I'm going to work with. 

Once again he stalled walking towards the station. If humans have songs about being birds, than do birds have songs about wanting to walk on the ground and run and kick a soccer ball around? Not likely, but that must be because the birds are satisfied with who they are, a feat many people are yet to accomplish. Maybe that was why they were always so happy, hm?

Tai started towards the station again, holding out his arms for balance. It felt like he was walking on a pole for some reason. Shrug…this was what was given to him to work with…He wondered suddenly just who had given it to him. God…He didn't seem very practical right now, but then of course, he never had. So who had laid this invisible pole down, who had put him above this city, and just who had decided it was his time to go? Tai touched the cold building carefully, and was not surprised to see and feel his hand go through the wall. So he was a ghost now, huh? And that made him pretty much immortal, right? Right. So what was he going to do with this immortality? He had to help the rest of the digidestined, he was sure of that, but how he wasn't sure. Okay, he was immortal now, but he couldn't touch things. Or could he?

The movie 'Ghost' came to mind as he sat in the air with one hand partially through the wall of a Television Station. Another ghost had taught the main character how to lift things, and he had also been able to possess people. That sounded like fun, but his life (or lack there of) was not a movie. That much he knew was true. But he really wanted to try to take control of someone's body. Then he could touch things. Then he could communicate with the other digidestined about what was going on. 

But what was going on? They were dying, that's all that Tai knew. Or maybe he could tell them what had happened to Kari, but…that just didn't feel right.

Tai slipped his hand in farther and then dared to stick his face through the barrier. He saw people. Real, live, breathing people. People who took for granted their flesh, their being able to touch someone else so easily…but Tai didn't know if he couldn't touch someone yet. Let's try…

He tried to walk, but found himself just walking in midair. Aright then, he would just let them come to him…but if he did that, how would ever get to the other digidestined? He shuddered. It didn't seem right: him, being a ghost. This was Taichi we're talking about, mind you. He shouldn't be a ghost. No, he should be out playing soccer with his buddies, fighting with Matt (fists included), and saving the digital world. Or maybe he could still do the last one…if he tried really, really hard. 

He snorted.

"Things don't get much easier even when you're a ghost."

A man passing by him stopped suddenly and turned around to face the man behind him. 

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Hm? Nothing…why?" Then the man smiled. "Hearing things already, Jordan? And your 40th is just around the corner!"

The first man grumbled a 'shut up' and then walked away hastily. 

They can hear me?! Oh my God! This is so great! 

Or was it. If he tried to talk to one of the digidestined, then wouldn't they think that they'd be going crazy? Or hallucinating? Oh God…

Tai ran his fingers through his hair, oblivious that he was doing so. It was something that Matt had always done.

He once again tried walking, but only managed to flip in air. This was so much like an anti-gravity room. Well, how did you move around in one of those rooms? By pushing off of the walls, dimwit. 

Damn it. So to walk, he first had to figure out how to touch things. How had the man in 'Ghost' done it? Focused all of his thoughts or some crap like that. All right, Tai could do that. It didn't seem too hard. He spun around and stared hard at the wall. I will touch this, I will touch this, I will touch this…

He reached out his hand and once more it slid through the wall. Damn it! Who was he kidding?! His life wasn't a movie, so why was he comparing it to one? 

Suddenly it felt like the wall was closing in on his hand; it had become solid! 

Tai screamed in pain and tried to pull out his hand. 

Everyone in the office stopped and looked at each other like dumbfounded frogs. Who keeps on yelling? 

He bit down on his lip, trying to make himself shut up. They had heard him (well, duh!), and he didn't want to frighten them like this. But, holy Jesus, that hurt!!

Finally the wall returned to its untouchable state, and Tai slid his hand out of it. It wasn't hurt. It didn't have any scrape marks, or red streaks at all. Funny…

But that didn't matter. Now he knew how to touch something, right? Just wait awhile, and somewhat believe in yourself. Okay, got it. But was it the same for people?

He held out his hand again, this time holding it right by the wall, not in it, but if it became solid, he would know. He stood like that for a few minutes. Come on, come on…

He felt it harden suddenly so he brought back his hand and pushed with all of his might. Okay, so this could be classified as flying…

He floated through the air at an almost break-neck speed, and then slammed into the other wall across the way. He let out a little gasp of surprise/pain that luckily no one heard. They were all busy asking who had yelled. 

When had that wall become solid? Whatever, what works, works. Now to try and touch people…

He pushed off lighter this time and floated towards the nearest person. It was a man, a young man, maybe around thirty, who looked pretty calm. Hm…and what would happen if the man felt his touch? Tai saw a women walking towards him, and decided he should wait so that the man thought that it was her. 

She was closer now. Almost there, almost…dang it. She turned. Ah well, better now than never. Wait, that didn't make sense. Whatever, just try it Tai. 

He took his fingertips to the man's shoulder and…touched him! He had actually felt that! He gave a little laugh of happiness and then shut up quickly. The man was staring at him, he was sure of it. Looking right into his eyes…

The man turned away, disbelief showing on his face. 

Tai tried to suppress his laugh.  I bet he thought that he's losing it. Fun.

But enough of that. He had figured out some of the things he could do so now he had to go find Davis and the others. He didn't know what he would say, but he had to find them as quickly as possible.

He touched his feet to the ground out of routine, and was surprised to actually feel solid under his worn out tennis shoes. This was getting better, but he wondered if he could still go through walls. That was something that he didn't really want to give up.  

He walked (actually walked!) towards the wall he had used to come inside. On the way, he bumped (actually bumped!) into a wooden chair. Only one person saw the chair tilt suddenly, and they didn't point it out to anyone. Tai smiled, ashamed. He was going to have to be more careful. These people were probably going to spread rumor of this part of the building being haunted. He didn't want to scare these people that way. 

The train was dead silent. 

White, pasty faces looked from one person to another, in a complete stage of shock. What had been that bump a few minutes ago? 

The only two people who could even fathom what had happened were as silent as the rest. Their faces had more color, their eyes weren't as cloudy, but their thoughts were filled with morbid slides, running one after another, nonstop. Davis looked at Ken. Ken didn't look back. A feeling of worthlessness and shame hung around them, tinged slightly by a revenge that was soon to grow. 

"Davis?" Ken's voice was barely audible.

"Yeah, Ken?"

"There are only six of us left."

Davis swallowed the wad of spit that was threatening to choke him. "What happens when none of us are left?"

They exchanged a sideways glance, but it didn't last long. It was too painful.

"I don't know. Jesus, Davis, I don't know."

Then their eyes locked permanently and a question passed between them telepathically. 

What about T.K?

Takeru was transporting between two worlds when pain suddenly struck his heart in a mighty blow. His breath stopped short. The light and data processing around him stopped with it. He was stuck in the void between the Digital World and the real World, but that didn't seem to matter right now. Kari, something had happened to Kari. 

His body jerked spasmodically into a curled position and the pain in his chest flared past excruciating. It was going to kill him. 

His pulse quickened madly, his eyes rolled, his tongue lolled, he started to foam at the mouth, and yet all he could think about was Kari. Her beautiful smile, her grace, her amazing attitude towards life. Kari, the one person he felt that he could never let go of, had left him. No, she couldn't leave without him. NO KARI, DON'T LEAVE!

Then his tongue covered the entrance to his windpipe. His arms and hands were still twitching, and jerking, and jolting, so he couldn't pull his tongue back up. He probably couldn't have done that anyways if he had been in control of his body. After all, he was alone and stranded in God knows where. 

So T.K. died in the black hole between the Digital World and Earth, alone and afraid, leaving only five more digidestined left. 

Yolei and Cody stopped dead (pardon the poor pun). Bodies, oh God, there were too many bodies!

Cody turned swiftly away from Yolei and hurled, only to find that his face was close to the rotting corpse of a Tokomon. 

"Oh God Yolei…"

She didn't hear him. She couldn't, she just couldn't – 

They couldn't be dead. There was no way that any merciful God would ever let such good people die. Oh! Especially Tai! Their brave and fearless leader could not possibly be one of the blackened bodies before her. After all that he had worked for in life, all that he had accomplished, and all the times that he had saved all of their lives… Tai wasn't dead. There was no way in Heaven or Hell that Tai could be dead. 

And Sora…

Yolei looked from one body to the next, trying to decide who was who even though it was killing her. Why should it matter? Oh wait…it was possible that these weren't the digidestined and that they were some wild native people who were never – 

She broke off her thought. Who was she kidding? 

Sora was gone. Sora, with her pretty smile and all around great personality. She was like a mother to all of the digidestined. And Mimi, who was always so kind and whose voice was rich like buttermilk. And Yolei would never forget Izzy neither. He was certainly one of the smartest teenagers she had ever met, and had always had the answers in less than an hour to any problem. And Jou – 

Yolei stopped for a second and counted the bodies. There were five, but that didn't make sense at all. There would have to have been six, plus that, one body didn't look human at all. What was going on here? 

She forced herself to walk closer to the bodies, trying to ignore the putrid smell that hung in the air. Yes, that one definitely wasn't human. She shivered. Ugh…not human? What was happening here? Why should other species intervene with the human race? Anyways, that was off subject. 

"Cody…!"

He walked over painfully slow, while she counted the bodies around her again. Five, there were only five. How can that be? 

"Cody," she said, when he was close enough, "there aren't enough bodies here to be all of the digidestined. There's only five, while there should be six, and one of them isn't even human!"

He grimaced. 

"Are you sure that the body wasn't…uh…deformed in some way?"

Yolei leaned closer to the body in question. 

"Pretty sure," she exclaimed and erected herself quickly. This was just too creepy. And…wasn't this some sort of "Danger Zone" as Izzy would have liked to call it? Whatever had killed these guys…could it come back? And if so, how soon?

"Cody, I think we need to get out of here as fast as we can, but first we need to identify these bodies." He gave her a horrified look and she nodded sympathetically. "I know, I know, but at least we have one down." She pointed to Kahandro's body. "None of the digidestined."

In spite of everything, Cody laughed a little at Yolei's bluntness. This was going to be a very painful process, but they needed to know who exactly was still alive, even though Cody suspected the only older digidestined left was Jou. Wait…Jou was the only one left alive? Could it be possible that…nah, of course not. Jou couldn't be credited with mass destruction and senseless homicide. No, not quiet, responsible Jou. 

There was something incredibly enthralling about floating through the sky and looking down on people, and Tai was sensing all of its pleasures right now. Of course, he still had his priorities straight, and never forgot about his mission in the long run. Because, this might just be the perfect chance to show everyone just how courageous he could be. Yeah…they would all soon learn the power of their leader, dead as he might be. 

Right now he was looking for Jou, because he had a feeling it would be best to see him first and, because Jou was the only older digidestined left, he was somewhat worried about his safety. But where? Could people and places possibly stand out to Tai because he was dead? Maybe…

Suddenly there was a screeching of tires and the smashing of metal. 

Tai looked underneath him, feeling a weird pain stab at his chest. About ten feet below, a man was yelling and making angry gestures at another man, every now and then pointing at his ruined fender and hood. 

Oh, all right, at least no one was hurt. 

So he resumed to go towards Jou's apartment, when something else caught his eye. Under the city, there were three figures that stood out in amazing contrast to the other people around them. Digidestined kids? It was possible.

Tai changed directions (wow, he was getting good at this) and ascended to the street level. The entrance to the subway must be somewhere around here…

"No, no, NO! I refuse to believe that something like that could have happened! Ken, you idiot, do you think that my Kari is that stupid? I know Kari better then you ever will and she would never get caught up in a thing like…like…you know what I'm talking about! She would never do that to us, to…to…to me!"

Davis broke down and cried. Sobbing, he crumpled to the floor, followed by countless pairs of eyes. 

Ken sucked in his breath. What kind of leader cries? He shrugged. Davis wasn't actually the leader here, Tai was. Just at that moment, he felt his D3 ring with a message. Wow, he had forgotten all about being able to communicate with the others. He opened the flap of it.

Ken – 

Cody and I are in the digital world, dunno where T.K. is at the moment, left him at computer room. We found the bodies of the older kids, all but Matt and Jou. Yeah, Ken, their _bodies_. Tai, Mimi, Izzy, and Sora are dead. I have no idea what killed them, but it looks like some sort of explosion. I'm sorry I couldn't deliver this in person. Have you found Jou or Kari yet? And be on the lookout for Matt as well, even though he was with Izzy the last time I saw him. 

-Yolei

A small noise escaped Ken's mouth, drawing the attention of Subway passengers from Davis to him. 

"Davis! Davis, get up! DAVIS!"

"I hear you."

"Davis…" 

Ah forget it, Ken mused and just threw the D3 onto Davis' lap. That was just too hard to say. 

Then he felt a chill as the ghost of Tai passed into the subway train. 

His body stiffened. 

"T – Tai?"

Tai turned around slowly and looked at Ken. Surely he couldn't see him because his eyes were on Davis. Had he felt him in some bizarre connection of destinies? But it wasn't just Ken that could feel his presence; the whole train of passengers were stirred from their dull daze by this paladin spirit entering and they showed it in an awe-inspiring spectacle where they lifted there faces towards Tai and smiled just slightly. They all knew he was there. They all knew he was good. And best yet, he knew himself that his courage had made an indelible aura around him. Tai smiled. 

"Davis," now that it came to it, Tai knew exactly what to say, but he hadn't rehearsed anything, "you need to find Jou. Next to that, you need to start acting like the leader you have to be. And Davis," he knelt beside the extraordinary boy who, like himself, would never quit, or he would die trying, "leaders do not cry."

What a load of bull, Tai suddenly realized. Leaders were of course humans too, and hadn't he just been crying himself not but an hour ago? Well, like time mattered now anyways. Actually, it did. More than he knew, but he wasn't about to let Davis go soft in front of a butt-load of strangers just because he thought that he "couldn't go on" and "it's not worth living anymore." Shit, if not for him, then for Kari. What the hell was this boy doing anyhow? Was he just going to sit there and let the digital world get blown to shreds by some invisible perhaps ubiquitous being? It took all of Tai's strength and reason to not choke Davis, and when the feeling passed, he didn't regret wanting to kill him.  

Davis finally lifted his tear-stained face (this was the moment that Tai wanted to strangle him) and looked up at Tai. He couldn't see him, but a longing that had been inside of Davis ever since he had met Tai came to the surface full-force. He wanted to become more like him. Actually, the truth was that he wanted to be him, but of course he could never have Tai's incredible build (*author smiles*) at his young age, but by Aphrodite's lust and Poseidon's sea he would try. 

Ken fainted. 

Now that they were on a clear mission, things ran more smoothly. 

Davis and Ken set off for Jou's apartment and were halfway there when Ken had another fainting spell. He collapsed like a wet burlap sack to the ground and busted his nose. Davis was so focused, that he decided to just carry Ken the rest of the way – imagine this – over his shoulder like a burlap sack. (*author: hee hee*)

Yolei and Cody returned to the real world in search of T.K, but found nothing but his bag, which, in his panic, T.K. had left behind. Figuring that he had decided to go to the digital world, Yolei and Cody made themselves comfortable in the computer room and waited for his return. 

Tai began a long search to find the people responsible for Kari's death. He was sure they were an independent group and that they knew nothing of her involvement with the digital world. With a sour revenge in his set heart, Tai stayed behind in the subway tunnels, or now called by the police: "The Crime Scene." 


	10. Part Ten

Annihilation

Part Ten

"Tai! Taichi! Are you in there?"

No, he would never truly be _in_ there. It just wasn't possible.

Not anymore at least. 

"Tai! I need your help with this!"

With what? Besides, he couldn't help anyone anymore. He was dead. 

"Please come help me!"

Who was that? Didn't they see how dead he was? He had seen it for himself when his pillow had been dry after crying, after his parents didn't see him, and after that train had just passed through him…

If he had still been alive, he might have been able to save Kari. But then again, wouldn't he have thought about the consequences? Hadn't that been one of his lowest priorities though? Hadn't it? When? When he was still alive. Why? Because he…he…he didn't remember right now. Tai had the sudden feeling that he would never remember again why he had acted the way he had. Responsibilities?…Everyone relying on him?…Love? 

Love? Love. No, he didn't love anyone back then. He had been too naïve and too busy to love. Love who? He didn't know. And busy with what? The digital world? Maybe, maybe not. 

The thing was, he could not remember. 

But did that matter? Was he supposed to remember? He had never really been a big fan of the whole 'fate' proposition, but now it was his only answer to everything. But it still didn't settle right with his stomach so he decided to think about other things. And the other things were?

The others. Where were they?

A sixth sense whispered something to his mind, something barely audible. 

_They're all almost gone…in fact; most of them are already dead. The ones who remain are going to kick the can soon, too, if you don't help them out. Who? Who was going to die? And who was already dead? The people alive are as follows…T.K., Cody, Yolei, Ken, Davis, and Jou. The rest are gone, and it's all…your…fault. _

What?! It couldn't be all his fault! That didn't make sense, didn't compute. Compute. Computer. Izzy. Izzy was dead. Oh God…it was all his fault. Why hadn't he done something to save them?! He was the leader! They were counting on him to be there for them, to save them when things were rough…to save their lives when the time came…

But what gave him the right to mess around with fate? He stopped. According to the law of fate, it's fate that I should not save them. So everything that has happened to this point was fate. It had to happen so something could present itself to me…

He grabbed his head. Ouch, this hurt. 

And just where was he? 

He opened his eyes slowly, not aware they had been closed in the first place. His eyes widened.

"Oh Jesus!"

He was in the air, just floating there. Below him he could see a city, some city, stretched out for miles on end until it touched the horizon and disappeared. There was a tall building right next to him, one that he could reach out and touch just barely with his fingertips. It looked familiar in some exotic way…wait! Wasn't this the Television Station for Odaiba? 

Tai moved his leg experimentally and was surprised feel something under him. It was like a sidewalk, but invisible and in the air. So…was this flying? No, this was levitation. 

He laughed. All of his mortal life he had heard people talk about how they wanted so much to fly with the birds, how they wanted to just sit in the sky and sing…He had never been one of those people. He knew that he wasn't a bird and that was that. Oh darn, I don't have wings, but God gave me this body so this is what I'm going to work with. 

Once again he stalled walking towards the station. If humans have songs about being birds, than do birds have songs about wanting to walk on the ground and run and kick a soccer ball around? Not likely, but that must be because the birds are satisfied with who they are, a feat many people are yet to accomplish. Maybe that was why they were always so happy, hm?

Tai started towards the station again, holding out his arms for balance. It felt like he was walking on a pole for some reason. Shrug…this was what was given to him to work with…He wondered suddenly just who had given it to him. God…He didn't seem very practical right now, but then of course, he never had. So who had laid this invisible pole down, who had put him above this city, and just who had decided it was his time to go? Tai touched the cold building carefully, and was not surprised to see and feel his hand go through the wall. So he was a ghost now, huh? And that made him pretty much immortal, right? Right. So what was he going to do with this immortality? He had to help the rest of the digidestined, he was sure of that, but how he wasn't sure. Okay, he was immortal now, but he couldn't touch things. Or could he?

The movie 'Ghost' came to mind as he sat in the air with one hand partially through the wall of a Television Station. Another ghost had taught the main character how to lift things, and he had also been able to possess people. That sounded like fun, but his life (or lack there of) was not a movie. That much he knew was true. But he really wanted to try to take control of someone's body. Then he could touch things. Then he could communicate with the other digidestined about what was going on. 

But what was going on? They were dying, that's all that Tai knew. Or maybe he could tell them what had happened to Kari, but…that just didn't feel right.

Tai slipped his hand in farther and then dared to stick his face through the barrier. He saw people. Real, live, breathing people. People who took for granted their flesh, their being able to touch someone else so easily…but Tai didn't know if he couldn't touch someone yet. Let's try…

He tried to walk, but found himself just walking in midair. Aright then, he would just let them come to him…but if he did that, how would ever get to the other digidestined? He shuddered. It didn't seem right: him, being a ghost. This was Taichi we're talking about, mind you. He shouldn't be a ghost. No, he should be out playing soccer with his buddies, fighting with Matt (fists included), and saving the digital world. Or maybe he could still do the last one…if he tried really, really hard. 

He snorted.

"Things don't get much easier even when you're a ghost."

A man passing by him stopped suddenly and turned around to face the man behind him. 

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Hm? Nothing…why?" Then the man smiled. "Hearing things already, Jordan? And your 40th is just around the corner!"

The first man grumbled a 'shut up' and then walked away hastily. 

They can hear me?! Oh my God! This is so great! 

Or was it. If he tried to talk to one of the digidestined, then wouldn't they think that they'd be going crazy? Or hallucinating? Oh God…

Tai ran his fingers through his hair, oblivious that he was doing so. It was something that Matt had always done.

He once again tried walking, but only managed to flip in air. This was so much like an anti-gravity room. Well, how did you move around in one of those rooms? By pushing off of the walls, dimwit. 

Damn it. So to walk, he first had to figure out how to touch things. How had the man in 'Ghost' done it? Focused all of his thoughts or some crap like that. All right, Tai could do that. It didn't seem too hard. He spun around and stared hard at the wall. I will touch this, I will touch this, I will touch this…

He reached out his hand and once more it slid through the wall. Damn it! Who was he kidding?! His life wasn't a movie, so why was he comparing it to one? 

Suddenly it felt like the wall was closing in on his hand; it had become solid! 

Tai screamed in pain and tried to pull out his hand. 

Everyone in the office stopped and looked at each other like dumbfounded frogs. Who keeps on yelling? 

He bit down on his lip, trying to make himself shut up. They had heard him (well, duh!), and he didn't want to frighten them like this. But, holy Jesus, that hurt!!

Finally the wall returned to its untouchable state, and Tai slid his hand out of it. It wasn't hurt. It didn't have any scrape marks, or red streaks at all. Funny…

But that didn't matter. Now he knew how to touch something, right? Just wait awhile, and somewhat believe in yourself. Okay, got it. But was it the same for people?

He held out his hand again, this time holding it right by the wall, not in it, but if it became solid, he would know. He stood like that for a few minutes. Come on, come on…

He felt it harden suddenly so he brought back his hand and pushed with all of his might. Okay, so this could be classified as flying…

He floated through the air at an almost break-neck speed, and then slammed into the other wall across the way. He let out a little gasp of surprise/pain that luckily no one heard. They were all busy asking who had yelled. 

When had that wall become solid? Whatever, what works, works. Now to try and touch people…

He pushed off lighter this time and floated towards the nearest person. It was a man, a young man, maybe around thirty, who looked pretty calm. Hm…and what would happen if the man felt his touch? Tai saw a women walking towards him, and decided he should wait so that the man thought that it was her. 

She was closer now. Almost there, almost…dang it. She turned. Ah well, better now than never. Wait, that didn't make sense. Whatever, just try it Tai. 

He took his fingertips to the man's shoulder and…touched him! He had actually felt that! He gave a little laugh of happiness and then shut up quickly. The man was staring at him, he was sure of it. Looking right into his eyes…

The man turned away, disbelief showing on his face. 

Tai tried to suppress his laugh.  I bet he thought that he's losing it. Fun.

But enough of that. He had figured out some of the things he could do so now he had to go find Davis and the others. He didn't know what he would say, but he had to find them as quickly as possible.

He touched his feet to the ground out of routine, and was surprised to actually feel solid under his worn out tennis shoes. This was getting better, but he wondered if he could still go through walls. That was something that he didn't really want to give up.  

He walked (actually walked!) towards the wall he had used to come inside. On the way, he bumped (actually bumped!) into a wooden chair. Only one person saw the chair tilt suddenly, and they didn't point it out to anyone. Tai smiled, ashamed. He was going to have to be more careful. These people were probably going to spread rumor of this part of the building being haunted. He didn't want to scare these people that way. 

The train was dead silent. 

White, pasty faces looked from one person to another, in a complete stage of shock. What had been that bump a few minutes ago? 

The only two people who could even fathom what had happened were as silent as the rest. Their faces had more color, their eyes weren't as cloudy, but their thoughts were filled with morbid slides, running one after another, nonstop. Davis looked at Ken. Ken didn't look back. A feeling of worthlessness and shame hung around them, tinged slightly by a revenge that was soon to grow. 

"Davis?" Ken's voice was barely audible.

"Yeah, Ken?"

"There are only six of us left."

Davis swallowed the wad of spit that was threatening to choke him. "What happens when none of us are left?"

They exchanged a sideways glance, but it didn't last long. It was too painful.

"I don't know. Jesus, Davis, I don't know."

Then their eyes locked permanently and a question passed between them telepathically. 

What about T.K?

Takeru was transporting between two worlds when pain suddenly struck his heart in a mighty blow. His breath stopped short. The light and data processing around him stopped with it. He was stuck in the void between the Digital World and the real World, but that didn't seem to matter right now. Kari, something had happened to Kari. 

His body jerked spasmodically into a curled position and the pain in his chest flared past excruciating. It was going to kill him. 

His pulse quickened madly, his eyes rolled, his tongue lolled, he started to foam at the mouth, and yet all he could think about was Kari. Her beautiful smile, her grace, her amazing attitude towards life. Kari, the one person he felt that he could never let go of, had left him. No, she couldn't leave without him. NO KARI, DON'T LEAVE!

Then his tongue covered the entrance to his windpipe. His arms and hands were still twitching, and jerking, and jolting, so he couldn't pull his tongue back up. He probably couldn't have done that anyways if he had been in control of his body. After all, he was alone and stranded in God knows where. 

So T.K. died in the black hole between the Digital World and Earth, alone and afraid, leaving only five more digidestined left. 

Yolei and Cody stopped dead (pardon the poor pun). Bodies, oh God, there were too many bodies!

Cody turned swiftly away from Yolei and hurled, only to find that his face was close to the rotting corpse of a Tokomon. 

"Oh God Yolei…"

She didn't hear him. She couldn't, she just couldn't – 

They couldn't be dead. There was no way that any merciful God would ever let such good people die. Oh! Especially Tai! Their brave and fearless leader could not possibly be one of the blackened bodies before her. After all that he had worked for in life, all that he had accomplished, and all the times that he had saved all of their lives… Tai wasn't dead. There was no way in Heaven or Hell that Tai could be dead. 

And Sora…

Yolei looked from one body to the next, trying to decide who was who even though it was killing her. Why should it matter? Oh wait…it was possible that these weren't the digidestined and that they were some wild native people who were never – 

She broke off her thought. Who was she kidding? 

Sora was gone. Sora, with her pretty smile and all around great personality. She was like a mother to all of the digidestined. And Mimi, who was always so kind and whose voice was rich like buttermilk. And Yolei would never forget Izzy neither. He was certainly one of the smartest teenagers she had ever met, and had always had the answers in less than an hour to any problem. And Jou – 

Yolei stopped for a second and counted the bodies. There were five, but that didn't make sense at all. There would have to have been six, plus that, one body didn't look human at all. What was going on here? 

She forced herself to walk closer to the bodies, trying to ignore the putrid smell that hung in the air. Yes, that one definitely wasn't human. She shivered. Ugh…not human? What was happening here? Why should other species intervene with the human race? Anyways, that was off subject. 

"Cody…!"

He walked over painfully slow, while she counted the bodies around her again. Five, there were only five. How can that be? 

"Cody," she said, when he was close enough, "there aren't enough bodies here to be all of the digidestined. There's only five, while there should be six, and one of them isn't even human!"

He grimaced. 

"Are you sure that the body wasn't…uh…deformed in some way?"

Yolei leaned closer to the body in question. 

"Pretty sure," she exclaimed and erected herself quickly. This was just too creepy. And…wasn't this some sort of "Danger Zone" as Izzy would have liked to call it? Whatever had killed these guys…could it come back? And if so, how soon?

"Cody, I think we need to get out of here as fast as we can, but first we need to identify these bodies." He gave her a horrified look and she nodded sympathetically. "I know, I know, but at least we have one down." She pointed to Kahandro's body. "None of the digidestined."

In spite of everything, Cody laughed a little at Yolei's bluntness. This was going to be a very painful process, but they needed to know who exactly was still alive, even though Cody suspected the only older digidestined left was Jou. Wait…Jou was the only one left alive? Could it be possible that…nah, of course not. Jou couldn't be credited with mass destruction and senseless homicide. No, not quiet, responsible Jou. 

There was something incredibly enthralling about floating through the sky and looking down on people, and Tai was sensing all of its pleasures right now. Of course, he still had his priorities straight, and never forgot about his mission in the long run. Because, this might just be the perfect chance to show everyone just how courageous he could be. Yeah…they would all soon learn the power of their leader, dead as he might be. 

Right now he was looking for Jou, because he had a feeling it would be best to see him first and, because Jou was the only older digidestined left, he was somewhat worried about his safety. But where? Could people and places possibly stand out to Tai because he was dead? Maybe…

Suddenly there was a screeching of tires and the smashing of metal. 

Tai looked underneath him, feeling a weird pain stab at his chest. About ten feet below, a man was yelling and making angry gestures at another man, every now and then pointing at his ruined fender and hood. 

Oh, all right, at least no one was hurt. 

So he resumed to go towards Jou's apartment, when something else caught his eye. Under the city, there were three figures that stood out in amazing contrast to the other people around them. Digidestined kids? It was possible.

Tai changed directions (wow, he was getting good at this) and ascended to the street level. The entrance to the subway must be somewhere around here…

"No, no, NO! I refuse to believe that something like that could have happened! Ken, you idiot, do you think that my Kari is that stupid? I know Kari better then you ever will and she would never get caught up in a thing like…like…you know what I'm talking about! She would never do that to us, to…to…to me!"

Davis broke down and cried. Sobbing, he crumpled to the floor, followed by countless pairs of eyes. 

Ken sucked in his breath. What kind of leader cries? He shrugged. Davis wasn't actually the leader here, Tai was. Just at that moment, he felt his D3 ring with a message. Wow, he had forgotten all about being able to communicate with the others. He opened the flap of it.

Ken – 

Cody and I are in the digital world, dunno where T.K. is at the moment, left him at computer room. We found the bodies of the older kids, all but Matt and Jou. Yeah, Ken, their _bodies_. Tai, Mimi, Izzy, and Sora are dead. I have no idea what killed them, but it looks like some sort of explosion. I'm sorry I couldn't deliver this in person. Have you found Jou or Kari yet? And be on the lookout for Matt as well, even though he was with Izzy the last time I saw him. 

-Yolei

A small noise escaped Ken's mouth, drawing the attention of Subway passengers from Davis to him. 

"Davis! Davis, get up! DAVIS!"

"I hear you."

"Davis…" 

Ah forget it, Ken mused and just threw the D3 onto Davis' lap. That was just too hard to say. 

Then he felt a chill as the ghost of Tai passed into the subway train. 

His body stiffened. 

"T – Tai?"

Tai turned around slowly and looked at Ken. Surely he couldn't see him because his eyes were on Davis. Had he felt him in some bizarre connection of destinies? But it wasn't just Ken that could feel his presence; the whole train of passengers were stirred from their dull daze by this paladin spirit entering and they showed it in an awe-inspiring spectacle where they lifted there faces towards Tai and smiled just slightly. They all knew he was there. They all knew he was good. And best yet, he knew himself that his courage had made an indelible aura around him. Tai smiled. 

"Davis," now that it came to it, Tai knew exactly what to say, but he hadn't rehearsed anything, "you need to find Jou. Next to that, you need to start acting like the leader you have to be. And Davis," he knelt beside the extraordinary boy who, like himself, would never quit, or he would die trying, "leaders do not cry."

What a load of bull, Tai suddenly realized. Leaders were of course humans too, and hadn't he just been crying himself not but an hour ago? Well, like time mattered now anyways. Actually, it did. More than he knew, but he wasn't about to let Davis go soft in front of a butt-load of strangers just because he thought that he "couldn't go on" and "it's not worth living anymore." Shit, if not for him, then for Kari. What the hell was this boy doing anyhow? Was he just going to sit there and let the digital world get blown to shreds by some invisible perhaps ubiquitous being? It took all of Tai's strength and reason to not choke Davis, and when the feeling passed, he didn't regret wanting to kill him.  

Davis finally lifted his tear-stained face (this was the moment that Tai wanted to strangle him) and looked up at Tai. He couldn't see him, but a longing that had been inside of Davis ever since he had met Tai came to the surface full-force. He wanted to become more like him. Actually, the truth was that he wanted to be him, but of course he could never have Tai's incredible build (*author smiles*) at his young age, but by Aphrodite's lust and Poseidon's sea he would try. 

Ken fainted. 

Now that they were on a clear mission, things ran more smoothly. 

Davis and Ken set off for Jou's apartment and were halfway there when Ken had another fainting spell. He collapsed like a wet burlap sack to the ground and busted his nose. Davis was so focused, that he decided to just carry Ken the rest of the way – imagine this – over his shoulder like a burlap sack. (*author: hee hee*)

Yolei and Cody returned to the real world in search of T.K, but found nothing but his bag, which, in his panic, T.K. had left behind. Figuring that he had decided to go to the digital world, Yolei and Cody made themselves comfortable in the computer room and waited for his return. 

Tai began a long search to find the people responsible for Kari's death. He was sure they were an independent group and that they knew nothing of her involvement with the digital world. With a sour revenge in his set heart, Tai stayed behind in the subway tunnels, or now called by the police: "The Crime Scene." 

Part 7: Tenebrous Landing

"Hi, is Jou here?"

The woman that Davis and Ken had seen when she opened the door wasn't exactly what they would call a "happy person." Her hair was pinned up in a sloppy mess, bags screamed depression and insomnia from under her eyes, she had a cup of coffee in her hand (which didn't look very hot), and sweat stains were very visible from the pits of her shirt. Davis smiled weakly as he supported the very faint Ken.

"Are you all right ma'am?"

She screamed suddenly in a berserk rage and slammed the door on Davis' nose. As the two boys backed away slowly, they could hear someone in the house trying to calm her to no avail. 

"Oooookay…I'm taking that as a pretty good sign that Jou isn't there."

"You don't know that for sure," Ken said as he tried to peak into the front window. 

"Ken, what are you doing? I'm positive that Jou can't be in there. That was his mother right? Well, when someone's mother looks that way you just assume that they're worried sick about their missing child."

"Yeah, _assume_."

Davis laughed. "You are so the conspiracy theorist."

"No, Davis, I just have a weird feeling about Jou missing. Like…it could be that he's the one doing all this."

"What?!" Davis was appalled. The thought of Jou being a criminal mastermind had never occurred to him and hearing it from a kid he considered to be a genius was even more frightening. 

"Haven't you ever heard of the saying 'it's always the quiet ones'?"

That – was - _it._

Davis yanked Ken off of the windowsill and dragged him away from Jou's apartment. 

"Davis!"

"I've had it with your stupidity! Jou is not the reason people are dying and in fact he's probably already dead himself."

"Davis-"

"And if you think for one more second that it's Jou's fault I'm going to…tie you to a pole in the east side, strap some meat on you, and then blow a dog whistle."

"Da-," Ken stopped short and crawled loose from Davis' grip. "What?"

"Nothing," grumbled Davis, remembering clearly when Tai had threatened him that way. 

"Anyways Davis, Tai told us to find Jou. Now, I'm not for sure if Jou is the victim or the enemy, but we need to make sure that Jou isn't in that apartment. It's the only for sure place that we have right now. If he's not there, I don't know where to start looking."

Davis nodded reluctantly. After all, Tai had once told him that being a leader also meant taking advice and listening to the people you were protecting. Sometimes they new better than you, and sometimes they didn't. 

"Yolei?"

"Yes, Iori?"

"Do you think that T.K. is ever coming back?"

"No, not really."

"Oh."

…and so ended their only conversation in the span of three hours, while they sat waiting for T.K. to "return" from wherever he "went".

It had been a good time to think about things, not to mention regret those things, and Yolei had done a lot of the latter. It had been stupid of her to leave T.K. here, because, after all, he was one of the original digidestined and those were the only ones that seemed to be dying. Had he died quietly? If this thing chasing them was a beast, probably not, but…there was the thought of: could any death be quiet? Sure, you could be quiet, but what she meant was: was it not painful?  

She sighed and stood up from the hard metal chair, her sore legs creaking. 

"I think we should go, Cody. He's not coming back."

As they walked out the door, Yolei turned back around and looked into the so-empty classroom. She sighed again, and then turned off the lights. 

Cursing a Chthonic place with all the words he knew, Tai slid through the subway train's side and to the gathering of officers surrounding the little girl's body. A sickening possessiveness was coursing through Tai right now and the thought of anyone, a-n-y-o-n-e, touching his dead little sister made him want to scream, but logic once again stopped him. Cursed logic. 

They already had her in a body bag. It was zipped up past her face, and only a stray strand of light brown hair greeted Tai. He stared at it, thought about going over to it, but stayed where he was.

He wanted to cry.

A police officer walked by him and crossed the tracks to where black numbers on yellow cards gleamed. Tai choked back the tears.

His sister: The Crime Scene.

His sister: Bits Represented by Numbers.

His sister: … is de- hey! If Kari was indeed dead (which there was no doubt by the way the paramedics were shaking there heads sadly) then was it possible that he would get to see her as a ghost?! The dead seeing the dead; it made perfect sense! 

Tai grinned. But of course, she'd want to know that he was avenging her. So…start the avenging.

In a little cabin out by the lake, two people sat looking at each other. Okay, staring more like, but nonetheless looking. It actually looked like a freaky staring contest, because neither was blinking. Well, here's a better way of putting it:

Wearing a mordant grin and being a legerdemain man, he had killed his comrade in one swift blow to the back. Now impassive to his motives, he stood staring at the lifeless eyes of the one he had slain. He had never before noticed how the eyes of the dead grew so milky like… 

He was now exalted to chief in a band of no one now, because he had killed them all. Why? Because he didn't want to chance any of them knowing what he had stolen from that girl.

His dark, flat eyes shined as he pulled out the D3 and digivice. He could remember long ago when he had held one of these…yes, they had changed their model, like he thought they would, but all of the buttons did the same thing, he was sure. He wondered if the girl had ever pressed any of the buttons, or if any of the buffoons in her group had. They would of found out the secret for sure if they had done that. Yes, they would of found out about the experiment he had participated in before he had screwed up and had been sent to this hellhole. Smiling, he pushed one of the buttons. 

Wind shifted the trees outside and a bird chirped nonchalantly, because it was used to this sort of senseless killing. Used to seeing its birdie friends shot down for sport, it had no reason to think that the human race did otherwise between themselves. And, sadly, it was right. 

Sora looked across and saw Mimi. Mimi looked across and saw Izzy. Matt looked across and saw Kari. Kari looked across and saw T.K. T.K. looked across and saw Jou. Jou looked dazed. 

"Uh…"

Matt touched the bars of his imprisonment tentatively. They were a shiny gray, and through them he could see, across the room, T.K., who was looking away from him. 

Everything was a shiny white, and there were wires connected to his body. 

"Well! How are you folks doing?!"

A man, who looked like he smelled and for sure hadn't shaved in days, entered the room smiling broadly. 

Matt gaped.

"Wha-  What the hell is this?! I thought I was supposed to be dead!"

The man continued smiling his crazy smile.

"Why, you sure are a pessimistic little boy, now aren't you?"

Matt growled.

"Well, I guess you all deserve to hear what has been going on."

Now all of them gaped.

"The digital world, the digimon, and all your adventures there as the digidestined, were all in your minds. You see, when you were very little, your parents agreed to lend you to us for an experiment on the human brain and its imagination section. The experiment went so well; we decided to not give you back. So we struck a bargain with the government (they're very easy to persuade you know) and now your real parents think of you as dead. Did you all have fun in our virtual reality world?"

His smile was still just as large as when he had begun. 

"So you mean…" Sora started, confused, "that all the emotions we had were just a result of your programming us?"

He nodded.

Everyone heard Jou throw up in the background, because, hey, why shouldn't he be a ninny in the real world too? ^.^

Mimi played with her hair a little.

"So now that you're done with your sick little game we get to go home, right?"

The man looked her deep into the eyes and, still smiling, said:

"No. There is still one more test we want to use you for."

From his dirty clothes, he pulled out a pistol.

"We want to see if there really is life after death."

And, still smiling, he shot them all.

The End 

_A note: In this story, there did turn out to be life after death, because the presence of Tai was felt long after he awakened to be shot in the real world. He woke up first in the real world, and that is why he is a ghost in the last two parts of this story. Did you like it?_


End file.
